The Tale of the Night Fury
by The Fox of Fiction
Summary: The Tale of the Night Fury is a Pirate AU with the ROTBTD as the head characters but also the other Disney/Pixar/DreamWorks movies is in this. The pairing is Hijack (Old Hiccup x Jack) bit in later chapters Blackice (Pitch x Jack)
1. Prologue

**Prolouge**

Cold…  
it was his first sensation…  
Pain the second  
and a strange feeling of floating the third…  
A brown and blue eye was opened in a bleary effort: anything seen nothing but a dark-blue-greyish blur.

The water lay dark around him there he drifted; fingers stiff around the edges of a plank; that kept his head and shoulders over the water's surface. His limbs were numb from the cold water, and loos of needed blood, his head hurt and he couldn't feel his left leg, at all but no warning-bells rang in his head; or maybe they did but their sound lost in the grogginess that his mind was in.  
A dirty white shirt with loose arms wavered around him in the moving water, and a pair of brown-grey pants, torn at his ankles hugged around his legs tightly. His brown hair hung damp; expect some locks that defied gravity. His skin was fair and faint freckles covered his flushed feverish cheeks.

A howling wind blew over the surface, making the waves grow big; forcing a big ship to sway, the greyish sails were town, flapping in the wind as a mutiny had broken out on the ship, swords flashed in the light from a bolt of lightning. Cries from both pain and anger rang around the ship, but were drowned by the deep growl form the clouds as the thunder roared; he trembled even so slightly in the cold his body already starting to enter a dangerously state of hypothermia.

Then without warning the entire ship exploded out in flames and a strong gust of wind hit out over the ocean. He flinched at the heat that the explosion had created and slowly turned his head, still in pain, seeing how the remains of the ship sank, dragging its crew into the depths of the dark waters; bubbles on the ships spot kept going for a moment, before noting displayed the ships existence.

The sky was bright, no clouds as far as eye could see, and a calm ocean breeze tugged at the red sails of the black tarred ship. In the front; the figurehead was a detail-rich dragon, the front legs in a threatening pose and the mouth wide open; ready to shoot a blast that was never going to happen, so that the ivory teeth were visible, the eyes had small pupils and was in emerald green, the rest of the dragon were black with some lighter parts here and there.  
The sails had a marking of a dragon on them as well and not just any dragon… a Night Fury: the most mystical of them all.

The captain; brown hair danced in the wind, dressed in a plain short-sleeved green shirt with buttons going from the wide V neck to his left hip. Over his waist a brown waistband was bound and over it two belts; a compass hanging from one of them, in a silver chain, a third belt went from his left shoulder to his right hip. Over all this he wore a black cloak that was red on the inside. Around his neck, an animal's tooth hang; belonging to a dragon, the only Night Fury he'd ever seen; and it had been nothing but bones. Brown loose pants covered his legs and dark brown boots had his fee- foot, in its grasp, where the other foot should have been a wooden peg-leg took over; the wood greyish and had an iron-plate at the end to keep the wood from being worn down. His grass green eyes gazed out over the blue ocean, as the sun warmed his freckles covered face as he stood at the helm hands resting on the dark oiled wheel.

"Rapunzel, how close is it to the next island?" he asked, not turning around to the woman; standing bended over a big world map. Her hair was long, reaching to her ankles; and it was in the most beautiful of gold, reflecting the sun's rays making it seem to glow; she wore a light pink blouse with wide arms that turned tight at her wrists: her pale shoulders and collarbones left exposed, over the blouse she wore a deeper shade of purple corset that had two bands going up over her shoulders. A chain in silver hung around her neck with a golden flowerlike sun fastened to it. Around her head a purple band was bound some locks of her hair going over it but most was under it being kept from her face by the band. Black tights covering her legs, as knee high; high-heeled boots, in a deep colour held her feet.  
Rapunzel lifted her head to look at him. She was the ship's doctor and navigator and sometimes, even the chef. In one corner of the map, her chameleon, Pascal relaxed, enjoying the warmth from the sun.

"About three days, if the wind doesn't change." She answered; something then caught her eye; she turned her head to the side, looking out over the calm water. She walked to the railing, peering out, moving a hand to block the sun to see things better.

"What is it?" Hiccup asked, now looking at her.

"I… I don't know." she answered. "It could just have been a sea animal."

"Ay, Hiccup!" a woman's voice suddenly echoed over the ship. Hiccup looked up to the crow's nest where the red-haired girl stood. Her red-orange disobeying hair were blowing in the wind; she wore a white blouse similar to Rapunzel's, a brown belt at her waist made the start of her deep brown tights, a green-blue corset was around her torso ending just before her breasts. She wore grey-brownish high-heeled boots that reached to just under her knees, over all this she wore a deep green jacket, and around her neck a band was bound along with her silver pendant; with tree bears carved into it, the carves painted green. Freckles covered her cheeks; she held a binocular in her hands, placed at her eye as she looked out over the ocean.

"What is it Merida?" he called back.

"A group of seagulls, cap' an it's not a school of fish their gathered around, it's ay person!"

"What?" Hiccup heard Rapunzel gasp out. He looked out to the side scanning the waters till he saw what the others had seen. Slowly it drifted towards them.

"Eugene! Aster! Take the dinghy and see if there's still life in the shipwrecked one!" Hiccup ordered. Aster; a tall dark skinned man with green eyes nodded.  
He wore noting on his upper body expect the straps to some boomerangs, around his neck a band of grey-bluish pearls hung along with tree animal teeth. On his left chest a white mark in the form of a hand was painted, and on his arms the blue tattoos of his tribe markings was visible, around his wrists two armbands in a pale golden colour with grass under them, he wore a brown band around his head and his blue-grey hair was gathered in a ponytail. Around his waist a blue shawl was bound, with a brown belt over it. He wore grey pants and brown-greyish boots.  
Eugene, on the other hand sighed tiredly, but did as he was ordered. He wore a white V-necked shirt with loose arms that gathered a bit over his wrists to become tighter before turning loose again. Over it he wore a green-blue short armed tunic that was opened at his chest, a golden band leaped around the edges of the short sleeves and the ends of the tunic. Over it he had a band bound with a thick belt over. Around his legs brown pants hide his legs, before a pair of brown boots took over. His dark brown hair was moving slowly in the wind.

Both of them took the dinghy and moved it out over the railing, before both stepped inside taking the ropes in their hands and slowly let themselves descend down to the surface. Aster took the oars and started to oar towards the shipwrecked. After a while Aster stopped to paddle and let the dangled glide up to a stop next to the person.

"Is he still alive?" Eugene asked looking down at the pale boy, bunny took one oar and poked the person in the waters, a weak groan come from it.

"He's alive, but barely." The Pooka said putting down the oars. "Come on, and help me get him on-board." Eugene took a hold of the boys left arm while Aster took the other they heaved the boy up and put him down on the boat, they finally got a full look at him; a couch escaped the boy's mouth Eugene winched when he saw the state of the boy.

"We better hurry or we will have a corps on our hands." He muttered, sinking down next to the boy taking of his belt and the band before placing his tunic over the boy, trying to make him get warm again, by rubbing his hands over the boy to create a friction. He was the first to notice, the boy's eyes open. "Aster he's waking up." He said sitting up a bit more almost turning his head around, he never let his eyes leave the boy.

"Then try to get contact with him." come the reply in a growling from behind him.

"He got funny looking eyes; they're not in the same colour." Eugene chuckled

"I don't care!" Aster pushed harder with the oars glancing at the boy. "Are you sure he's fully awake? Stop finding him funny and try to keep him alive instead you moron."

"Ay, ay… no need to get irritated." Eugene muttered bending forward again moving a hand before the boys eyes trying to get a reaction. "Hey… are you okay?"

"Off course he's not okay!" Aster growled.

"Oh shut up." Eugene snapped glaring back at the Pooka, before returning his mind to the boy; "If you can hear me blink two times." noting… the boy just looked at him with tired feverish eyes. Eugene tried to make him stay conscious but was not able to the boys eyes closed and his head fell to the side, just as they got back to the ship.

"How is the shipwrecked?" Hiccups head looked down over the railing.

"Not good mate, he's barely hanging on. I'm surprised he's not dead jet." Aster answered as the ladder was thrown down to them.

"Tell Punz to get her medicines and herbs ready." Eugene shouted as he helped Aster get the boy onto his stomach, binding his arms so that they hugged around the Pooka's throat. Before he started to climb, one hand holding the boy, while the other held the ladder, the boy was cold. As he reached the railing Nicholas took the boy so that the Pooka could climb over. He was a big man, oldest one in the crew, with a red shirt with a wide collar and rolled up sleeves, revealing two tattoos, the right one: a compass and left one: an anchor. He wore a black bandana over his brown short hair; his shin was covered in a brown pointy beard and a moustache. Around his stomach a big waistband was bound made from many different pieces sewn together, all of them holding a story to tell. Grey loose pants covered his legs as a pair of dark-grey shoes took over his feet's.  
Rapunzel hurried to the boy just looking at him for a shirt amount of time before she gestured for Nicholas to take the boy and follow her, she was just about to go down to the lover section of the boat, when Hiccup called out to her.

"Place him in my cabin, there's more space there and you can keep a better look on him with the light from the window." she nodded in a thanks before they walked to the door that was under the wheel. Hiccup stayed to help Eugene and Aster to get the dinghy up from the waters.

"Now what do we do?" Eugene asked as he pulled up the ladder.

"We wait for Rapunzel to return, with a report on the boy's state." Hiccup answered, sitting down on the bench that went around the main mast, crossing his peg-leg over his flesh one.  
Toothless stood up from there he had lied under the table; he stretched his long furry body and walked down the stairs and over to hiccup, his fourth leg, the left one was a peg-leg just like hiccups but it was in a darker colour, and more animalistic, the big black panther nuzzled his head against Hiccups side purring as Hiccup started to scratch him behind the ear "you really are nothing but a big kitten." Hiccup chuckled.  
Aster sighed there he stood stretching his shoulders; he was not feeling like getting sore muscles out in the middle of the ocean.  
Merida looked down from the crow's nest sighing from time to time she looked around to make sure they didn't hit a rock or cliff, or getting a surprise attack from another pirate ship.

The sky was starting to get a pink colour when Nicholas came out from the door. He sighed before he walked up to Hiccup who had stood up.

"News?" the captain asked.

"No. Rapunzel says he will be fine, but she wants someone to stay by his side during the night, if he was to get worse." The northern accent hung heavy over Nicholas words. Hiccup nodded. "I will now go and make dinner, no?"

"Yes, that's sounds good, Nicholas." Hiccup smiled at him and Nicholas loud laughter echoed out over the ocean, before he made his way to the kitchen that lied in the front of the ship, below deck. Hiccup opened the door to his cabin, the boy lied in his bed, bandages covered his head and leg, his body was also covered by blankets, a wet piece of cloth was folded over his forehead. He cleared his throat; making Rapunzel look up from there she sat on a chair next to the bed.

"Hiccup..." She smiled tiredly at him.

"How is he?"

"He got a fever, his body temperature is low, he lost a lot of blood; but not in need of a transfusion, and he's got a terrible wound on his leg and head." Rapunzel lifted her hand. "But he's getting better, slowly. Sorry Hiccup but he will seize your bed for the time being." Hiccup waved his hand and smiled.

"Don't worry about it Rapunzel. I can sleep with the others just as well." Toothless, had followed Hiccup inside the cabin and now walked up to the bed, his green eyes eyed the boy, his pupils wide; he placed his paws on the edge sniffing at the boy. He smelled of blood and smoke and well… wet human. Toothless looked at Hiccup giving away a growling sound from the depths of his throat.

"He will be fine bud, don't worry." the bell that signalled that the food was ready started to ring, by Nicholas hand. "Toothless keep an eye on him." the panther nodded and sat down at the side of the bed.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Voices, muffled voices reached his ears, they sounded unfamiliar, and something started the warning-clocks in his mind. He slowly opened his eyes, seeing shadows next to him one was dangerously close, fear flashed thru his body, and his vision got clear and all pain seemed to disappear and the fever was not a problem; as he shot up from the bed, seeing a knife on the bedside table, grabbing it before crashing into the wall: opposite side of the room pointing the knife at the people. That stared at him in shock.

"Where am I?! And who are you people?" he asked in a cold tone, a blond woman stared at him startled for a second before she lifted her hands in an unthreatening way.

"You're not in condition to stand up; please we are trying to help." She looked at him with worried but calm green eyes. A growl then reached his ears and a black panther moved on the ground, the pupil's small, and teeth visible. He quickly pointed the knife to the panther instead, making it growl more loudly.

"Before you ask for people's names, aren't you supposed to tell your own first?" a tall brunette asked, placing his hand on the panthers side, making it stop growling and taking some steps back sitting down, still looking at the boy with untrusting eyes. The boy was silent for a moment, the knife now pointing at the taller man who had moved towards him.

"Jack, my name is Jack." The boy said and made it clear with his glare not to get closer. "Where am I and who are you?"

"My name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third, and I'm the captain of the Night Furry." The tall brunette said, he then gestured to the panther, "This is Toothless, he's friendly once you won his trust. That is Rapunzel." He gestured to the blond woman. "She's our doctor and made sure you didn't die on us." Jack glanced hastily to the blond before returning his eyes to the captain, not lowering his guard the slightest, pirates were not to be trusted; he'd been taught that the hard way.  
The captain made a gesture to a red-haired woman who stood with arms crossed over her chest and opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the woman.

"I am Merida, first born decedent of the northern clan: Dunbroch, and the best sniper there is." She said her accent easy to hear. The brunette sighed closing his mouth, before gesturing to the last person.

"This is Aster, he was the one that brought you up on the ship; he's the weapon maker." The dark tanned man nodded making the blue-greyish hair wobble.  
Jack looked between all of them, and the panther, was he to trust these people? Something in the captain's eyes told him he could, but it spoke against **everything** he'd been taught about pirates.  
The pain then suddenly returned with full force, the knife trembled in his grip, as he lost balance for a moment. He heard the blond call out to him, what she said he couldn't hear, the world started to spin and he heard how the knife clattered against the wooden floor before one of his knees grew week and hit the floor hard, and before everything turned black; he saw the brunette jump forward, to catch him before he hit the floor.  
And he found himself thinking only one thing as he lost conscious.  
 _These pirates are weird_ …

Hiccup looked down at the boy; he was making a grimacing face due to the pain. Hiccup lifting him up in his arms and walking back to the bed laying him down again, placing the blankets that had been thrown around as he'd dashed up from the bed. Rapunzel sighed and observed the wounds again, not so much damage done to them, to her relief. She just had to change the bandages at the leg.

"I think it would be better if we're not so many in here, just me and Rapunzel." Hiccup said as Rapunzel stood up finished with the new bandage.  
Merida sighed taking up the knife from the floor and giving it to him holding in the blade.

"Ay, but keep this away from 'im."

"'e was scared; like a cornered animal." Aster said looking at the boy who had relaxed a bit, before he nodded to Hiccup and left the room followed by Merida, Toothless walked up to the bed giving away a growl at the boy.

"Toothless this applies to you to." Hiccup said and got a growl in reply; Toothless were not happy with the choice, he did not trust the boy, but after a bit of growling and glaring, he did as he was told Rapunzel looked at Hiccup.

"If he gets worse call for me okay…"

"I will." Rapunzel smiled and left the room.

It didn't take long before Jack regained consciousness again, but this time he didn't bold up from the bed, too tired to move and he felt a bit groggy.  
Hiccup sat at the side of the bed sketching in his block with a coal pen, he hadn't realized it, but he had been drawing Jack. He looked to the side once he felt that he was being watched. He saw the brown and blue eyes of Jack look at him in a tired way.

"Hey, you made quite a racket earlier." He said there he sat on the bedside table closing the block and turning his face to the boy. Jack looked away with a tired moment, time had finally caught up with him, and if it hadn't been for Rapunzel's medicine he would probably been squirming in pain due to the wounds.

"Haddock… was it?" Jack asked in a hoarse voice looking up at him with feverish eyes.

"Yes, but my friends can call me Hiccup." A weak smile grew on Jack's pale lips more at the left side.

"Hiccup… it's a funny… name…" Jack mumbled as he started to fall asleep, his breathings slowing down. Hiccup gave him a weak smile, and made the piece of cloth wet again before placing it on top of the boy's head again, before he left the room.

Rapunzel were the only one that stood outside, she had a worried look on her face; that she tried to hide but failed a bit. The setting sun coloured the world in a warm colour, the clouds were flushed pink. And the sky grew darker. The first stars were already visible.

"How is he?" she asked looking inside before Hiccup closed the door.

"He's sleeping." Hiccup smiled at her before he looked around "Toothless!" he called out, the panther looked down from the higher deck where the helm were placed, head between the flat wooden bars of the fence, tilting his head in question. "Can you keep an eye on Jack for me?" a growl was his only reply. "Come on bud." A louder growl and a snarl before Toothless pulled his head back with an irritated breath thru his nostrils, making it clear he wanted nothing to do with the boy. "What's with him? He's even more edgy; then he was when Merida joined." Hiccup sighed moving some fingers thru his locks at the side of his head. Rapunzel chuckled and smiled.

"It takes time to trust, and counting in fact that boy pointed knife at Toothless makes it harder." Nicholas voice suddenly said, making the two youngsters turn around. He smiled at them. "How long did it take for him to trust you captain?"

"About a week…"

"He will trust; it will just take time." Nicholas smiled "Don't force it. The dinner's ready."

"So how's the kid doing?" Eugene asked as he stabbed a piece of meat with a fork. They all sat in the galley of the ship.

"He's sleeping right now." Hiccup answered, taking a bite of the newly baked bread.

"I wonder how he ended up in the water with those wounds…" Merida pondered moving her fork around the plate stabbing it randomly at the plate; missing the food completely.

"Merida…" Rapunzel said giving her a sighing smile.

"Who knows why not ask 'im once he wakes up." Aster said leaning back on the sofa he sat on, against the left wall of the galley. He crossed his arms over his chest. Not planning to eat anymore. "By the way, Hiccup, what are ya planning to do with 'im once he's gotten well again?" Hiccup looked at him, before shaking his head.

"I don't know… It depends on what he wants… and also it's quite a journey to get to another island where there's a city, we don't even know where he was going; before he ended up in the water."

"That true." Nicholas said, "Second's anyone?" some of them nodded, and Nicholas filled their plates with warm food again.

"I won't trust 'im till Toothless does." Merida said standing up, making the chair scrape against the wooden floor. "I'm going to sleep, good night." Merida walked to the wooden door, to the left; that was under the stairs, it closed silent behind her.  
The others looked at each other, before one after another they returned to the two bedrooms. The boy's room were to the right while the girls were to the left.

Merida and Rapunzel shared room, it was not as big as the boy's but enough for them both; two hammocks hanging from bow to stern in the small room. Rapunzel's hammock was purple with the sun symbol; from her home in the south, Merida had her clan's colours and pattern on hers: purple, green, light blue, black and white that went crossing over each other in a repeating pattern.

A round window gave them faint light; the windowsill under it had a vase of flowers, some worn books; belonging to Rapunzel, and a wooden bear statue, belonging to Merida. The windowsill also functioned as Pascal's sleeping place; if he didn't curl up beside Rapunzel's head. Right now the green chameleon slept in the light of the setting sun.

"What do ya think of the wee lad, Punz?" Merida asked as she took of her coat and clothes, changing to her night dress; a long white flannel shirt, with loose arms that grew tight at her wrists, she changed her pants to a pair of dark green tights, so that if she were needed on deck during the night; she didn't have to worry about the wind making her lower regions shown to the rest of the crew.  
Before laying down in her hammock; pulling the blanket up over her chest, and crossed her arms behind her head, closing her eyes.

Rapunzel shrugged her shoulders taking of her necklace and changed to a nightdress but even she wore some pants under it.

"He must have been freaked out when he first woke up. But I hope he will be fine. Also I find his eyes cute." Rapunzel giggled.

"You fall for men to easily Punz." Merida muttered looking at the blond woman who was grinning as she lay down in her own hammock.

"Oh yeah?" she smiled a smug smile at her

"What?" Merida stared at her, feeling a cold sweat starting over her body. She knew it was a bad Omen when Rapunzel smiled like that.

"Nothing…" It didn't make Merida feel any better she sat up on her elbow almost glaring at the blond woman who tried to keep a straight face.

"Rapunzel." Merida muttered out.

"Well you may already know that I like both." Rapunzel lied down on her hammock.

"Both?" Merida was lost, she had not been on the ship for so long so all the crewmembers secrets that most of the rest knew, well; she didn't know all of them. Rapunzel's face grew into a big grin.

"I like _both_." She said again looking at Merida, who just stared at her, her confusion written all over her face. Rapunzel gave away a sigh before sitting up a bit. "Both, Men and Women, I like both." Merida felt her cheeks grow hot at the look in Rapunzel's eyes.

"Oh." She hastily retreated her eyes; from Rapunzel's, receiving a laughter from the blond woman that lied down on her hammock again.

"Don't worry, I lean more towards boys."

"Allot towards Eugene, right?" Merida said grinning smugly at her. Rapunzel sat up rapidly, making her hammock wobble before stilling, her face burning red.

"How did-" her voice was pitched before she slammed a hand over her mouth glancing towards the wall that separated their rooms. "How did you know?" she whispered out in a hissed voice after she removed her hand.

"I'm not blind." Merida grinned. "Ye have a crush on him don't ya?"

"Maybe a tiny one…" Rapunzel mumbled out.

One night and day had passed since the crew of the Night Fury had saved Jack from the water; the boy had been awake, but Rapunzel had forbidden him from leaving the bed with a threat of a frying pan, Jack had not felt the need to move, even if he got bored, when he did he started to study the cabin with all the stuff and furniture inside.

Toothless walked across the deck watching out in the night for other ships, the night was calm and one after one the lights on the ship went out, leaving the stars and the moon the only light source in the late night. The sails were recessed and the anchor dropped. The ship swayed in the calm ocean breeze. Toothless yawned and stretched his body, before shaking himself and took another walk around the ship. Noting, everything was still and clear, he sat down at the left side of the ship, looking up at the stars. A creaking sound then reached his sensitive ears. His head snapped down and he peered towards the sound. The door to the cabin was opened slowly. Toothless growled a bit when he saw the boy moved out from the door. He was halting and had his hand on his head.

A calm perky breeze stroke his face and made his brown locks flutter, he opened his eyes slowly; stars everywhere, he had never seen such a clear night sky in his entire life. His eyes opened wide and he lowered his hand from his head as he turned it to the sky walking halting out on deck staring at the sky, and the masts shadows were tall and dark. A growl from his side made him flinch and turn his head; to find himself staring at a pair of green eyes that glowed in the light from the moon, Jack gasped and in pure instinct he stumbled back from the panther, losing his balance and landed hard on his rear, staring at the panther; with a slight hint of fear in his two coloured eyes.

Toothless growled glaring daggers at the boy. He did not trust him. He walked towards Jack; who backed away till his back hit the railing.

Jack tried to remember what the panthers name was. He could have sworn he'd heard it, what was it?!

"Tooth… no. That's not right…" he tried to remember, pressing himself up against the railing.  
The panther only got closer growling. "Toothless!" Jack then cried out, the panther stopped looking at him with big eyes. Jack had his eyes squeezed shut and his head was turned away, but when noting happened he slowly opened his eyes looking at the panther that now sat down scanning him with glaring eyes. Jack looked at him, seeing the knowledge in the panther's eyes; they were old, showing that the panther were older in mind then in body.

Jack slowly lifted his hand reaching for the panther's face. Toothless eyes fell on his hand, a growl left him before his teeth reflected the moon as he growled a big louder, Jack stopped his hand pulling it back, the panther then snarled at him before disappearing into the shadows.

Jack took help from the railing to get back to his feet. He had planned to go back to the cabin, but the stars and mirror like ocean made him forget it.

"Did Rapunzel not tell ya to stay in bed?" the Pooka's accent suddenly spoke behind him; making his head snap around, causing a bit of dizziness, before his eyes landed at the tanned man.

"Aster…" Jack said not sure why the man was awake nor up on deck.

"Looking at the stars?" Aster walked up to the railing at Jack's left side. Jack looked up at the tall man. Aster looked down at him.

"Ah… yeah…" Jack looked back out over the ocean.

"Trouble sleeping?" he asked looking out over the ocean as well.

"Not really…" damn it, why did this feel so awkward? "What about you?"

"Me? No. I'm on night's watch." Aster crossed his arms on the railing looking down at the boy. Jack looked up at him.

"What?" he asked irritation in his voice. Aster chuckled but did not answer; he smiled before looking out over the ocean again.

"You better go to sleep." He said placing his hand on Jacks head ruffling the brown locks, getting a complained groan from the boy, before he walked along the railing; to take a patrol around the ship. Jack glared after him before a wave of tiredness washed over him. He halted back to the cabin and with a grunt lay back down in the bed, he fell asleep right as his head landed on the pillow.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The sun shone bright in a sky, thin clouds ran over the blueness. Jack had left the bed in the cabin, much to Rapunzel's dislike.

"Jack! Stop moving around! You need rest!" she shouted holding a bent frying pan in her hands there she stood shouting up towards the ropes; where the named, climbed up towards the crow's-nest.

"Quit it already Blondie! I'm gonna rest later, I just want to take a look!" he shouted back. A loud groan left her lips as she rolled her eyes, letting her arms fall to her sides.

Jack climbed over the edge with a silent grunt, looking out over the edge with big eyes. Eugene that already was there looked at him in amusement. Jack looked around and a gasp left his mouth.

The Night Fury was bigger than he first thought, tree masts, the main mast the tallest. The big red sails moved slowly in the wind, the ship floated forward in the blue clear ocean. He walked to the edge, placing his hands on the edge of the crow's-nest, looking down. Hiccup stood at the helm Toothless lied at his feet snoozing in the sun. Merida was sitting checking her arrows and bow. Aster sat next to her and they were both talking about something. Jack gave away a chuckle when he saw Aster fix some bombs... that were in the shape of an egg... eggs? He snorted, receiving a confused glance from Eugene.

"Wow…" he mumbled out.  
A fluttering sound made Jack look up, up at the flag that flapped and moved in the wind. A black flag with a white Night Fury on with the symbolising crossed bones behind, it was torn at the edge, but it was full of pride Even Jack could feel the pride the ship had, even if he wasn't a member of the crew. Eugene smiled at him before looking in the binocular again moving it out over the waters in the horizon the dark profile of land made itself bigger.

"Hiccup! Land 12 o clock!" he shouted, making Jack flinch and turn his head around to stare at Eugene before trying to see land.

"Good!" come the reply from underneath.

Jack looked down again, his eyes sparkling with excitement.  
"Hiccup! This ship is amazing!" he shouted as he leaned over the edge of the nest. He had already taken a stroll over the deck and seen all the details and the dragon in the front, in one word, he loved it. "It's so big and proud! And the dragon in the front!" Hiccup couldn't hear everything Jack shouted; he had been struck by the first words and was now feeling his face grow hotter. Jack had a big grin on his lips and his eyes sparkled like the stars had made them and the way the wind made his brown locks move in the sunlight and the sun that gave him a Gloria like glow around his head; did not help to cool his face one bit.  
Toothless gave away a growl turning his head away closing his eyes; there he lay next to Hiccup's feet on the deck trying to get as much warmth from the sun as possible. Nicholas laughed as he walked up from the galley with a brick covered with cookies in his hand.

"Snacks!" he said, everyone stopped what they were doing, as Nicholas walked around deck holding the plate for them to take some.  
Jack climbed down a bit slower then he gotten up he jumped the last bit; but regretted it right away when his feet hit the wood: the hit travelled thru his feet, up his legs making the wound burn before it made all the hairs on his body stand on end as he face grew a pit pale. He forced his teeth together to not scream.  
Rapunzel looked at him and gave him an ' _I told you so_ ' glare. Jack tumbled a bit before he halted towards the bench; around the main mast. He sank down with a grunt on the wood. Massaging his leg around the wound that had started to heal.

"Ye okay lad?" Merida asked looking up at him, holding two pieces of cookies in her hands, and with bow and arrows in her lap. He gave her a tired nod.  
Nicholas walked towards him and held the plate in front of Jack's face.

"Cookies?" he asked smiling. Jack looked at the cookies before he took one, he wasn't sure what to expect, when he took the first bite, but it was clear what he taught when his entire face light up from the sweet taste that spread in his mouth. Nicholas smile grew bigger and he moved the brick closer, for Jack to take some more; and he did.

"So, Jack, where are you from?" Hiccup asked leaning forward, arm resting on the fence as the other held the helm.

"I don't really know... the city I spent most of my life in were Burgess" Jack mumbled out, after swallowing.

"Burgess? That's on the other side of the ocean, is it not?" Hiccup looked towards Rapunzel who nodded at him. "What are you doing so far from your home?" a shadow flashed thru Jack's eyes before he lifted his head and smiled.  
A forced smile.

"Well, travelling the seas, going on adventures and such."  
Rapunzel's head snapped around and stared at him: for growing up in a place where lies where the only thing that could keep you out of trouble d: even if she wasn't much for lying herself, did she know a lie, when she heard it. But she could just not understand why Jack had lied to them... did he not trust them with the truth?

Hiccup nodded, accepting the answer.  
Nicholas looked at the boy before he smiled.

"Jack, I need some help with preparing dinner, can you help me peel potatoes?" Jack stared at him for a short moment, shock and confusion clearly written on his face before he nodded, since Rapunzel were probably to hit him with the frying pan if he climbed around on the ship it was better to do _something_ then just sitting on the deck and do nothing.

"Here." Nicholas gave him a knife and put a barrel of potatoes in front of him, before he sat down in front of the barrel taking out another knife and started to peel the potatoes in the barrel.  
Jack took one potato in his hand; it was cold and a bit moist.  
He looked from the potato to the knife in a puzzled expression. Nicholas noticed it and a chuckle left his lips. "Jack, as I do." He said moving a bit closer; for Jack to see better, Jack looked as North peeled the potato slowly so Jack could see how he did it. It didn't take long before Jack got a hang of it himself.

They sat silent, the only sound was the waves hitting against the hull of the ship, the crew walking up on deck and some mumbled sounds that was them talking among themselves.

"So adventures were it?" Nicholas said; he had his eyes on the potato that he was pealing. "Any you would like to tell about?" Jack swallowed hard feeling his body grow cold, before he opened his mouth… to lie.

"Well... there was that one time when I had to fight a bunny over a Golden Egg..."

"A bunny?" Nicholas looked up. "You're serious?"

"It was a _big_ bunny! It was seven feet tall! Not like those small fluffy bundles of fur that I come to enjoy, but a big angry one that nearly bite of my neck!" Nicholas burst out in laughter, putting back the potato he'd just taken, before hugging around his stomach falling to the floor of the galley.  
Jack looked at him trying to keep a straight face, but the side of his mouth twitched, and it didn't take long before he was laughing as well, a true laugh.

The door to the Galley opened and Hiccup walked down, followed by Toothless.

"Jack, come with me, I want to show you something." Hiccup said smiling at the boy "It that okay with you Nicholas?" the big man had trouble answering, but nodded and stroke some tears from his eyes.

"Yes, yes, up with you son." Jack stood up returning the knife to Nicholas before following Hiccup up the stairs. Toothless were first at the door, nearly making Jack fall down when the panther hurried out.

"Close your eyes for a moment okay, no peeking." Jack looked confused at Hiccup but closed his eyes and also placed a hand over them.

"Why is this needed?" Jack asked as he heard Hiccup open the door, and Toothless walk out, before he felt Hiccups hand on his back, he flinched at the touch.

"Follow me." Hiccup said and leaded him outside. The fresh breeze held something else in the air then salt… a faint smell of flowers… how now that was possible…  
Hiccup then stopped. Letting go of Jack and walked a bit. "Open them." Jack slowly took away his hand not sure what to expect, he blinked his eyes open and the stared. A wall of ivy covered stone in front of them, the ship moved towards it. Jack looked unsure at Hiccup.

"Why are you steering the ship towards a mountain wall?" a friendly laugh from Hiccup only made him more confused.

"Just wait." Was his only reply, Jack swallowed, had he been rescued by a crazy captain that now steered the ship towards a cliff? Why didn't anyone do anything? The all seemed to be so- so… so calm..? He then heard a rustling sound and turned his head to the front of the ship, the ivy was swallowing it. But no mountain was hit by the ship's hull. He cringed when the ivy brushed over him and the ship.

"What the…" he mumbled out.

"Well come to Fairy Cove, one of the few places where fairies still exist." Hiccup said, Jack opened his eyes and nearly choked on his own spit. High mountains creating an island in the shape of a crescent moon was in front of him. He turned his head and saw how the ivy hung over a hole in the mountain. Cherry trees in full bloom along with other colourful plants covered the mountainsides. Tall trees grew also, the water were clear, so clear that you could see all the fishes swimming. Jack stared, his mouth slight agape, he couldn't utter any words for what he now saw… He looked back to Hiccup, who smiled, but not at him but at the Island. He knew that there was a hole in the mountain just there… the others did to.

"Wonder how Toothiana's doing, last time I saw her she were strangling you with to tight hugs." Eugene asked as he cast an amused glance towards Aster.

"Oh shat yer trap." Aster growled irritated crossing his arms.

"Who's Toothiana?" Jack looked confused between them. "Is she a crew member?"

"Oh yea… ye 'ave never met her before." Merida said and smiled.

"Toothiana isn't a crew-member." Eugene said. "She's the fairies queen, and also has a thing for teeth…" Eugene scratched the back of his head, before he pointed at Aster with his thumb. "And she really **loves** his teeth." Aster muttered something under his breath.

The Night Fury floated next to the natural harbour, some rock that went out in a straight line; even if they were not flat it was enough to walk on.

Rapunzel took a look at the wound at Jack's head and brushed her fingers thru the brown locks, before she stood up giving him a stern look.

"The wound on your head is fine, and will manage without bandage." She started before pointing at him. "But I will not tolerate any running. If I find the wound worse than when I last saw it, I will use this." She moved the frying pan in a threatening way.

"I- I do believe you will…" Jack stuttered out looking unsure at the pan.

"Jack." Hiccup then said. Jack turned his head to look at the captain. "I and the rest of the crew are to go to Toothiana's place, only you and Toothless will be left on the ship." Toothless gave Hiccup a shocked glance before glaring at Jack who swallowed.

"Is that really a good… idea?" Jack asked pointing at the panther. "I won't find myself turned to panther food… right?" Hiccup looked at him deadpanned look.

"Unless you are to point a weapon at him or have bad intentions, he won't touch you." Jack didn't get calmer by that, but he nodded.

"Hiccup hurry up or we will leave without you!" Eugene called from the beach.  
Hiccup looked between Jack and Toothless one last time before he sighed.

"You can take a stroll along the beach if you get bored. But make sure you have the ship in sight okay." Jack nodded "Make sure he doesn't make something stupid, okay bud." Toothless purred as Hiccup placed his hand on his head. Before he left to join the others, and walked into the thick vegetation that made the forest.

Jack looked unsure at Toothless; that had lain down at the railing, snoozing of. Jack sighed and started to walk along the ship he looked at the white sand that made the beach. He walked to the railing looking down at the waters. Fishes in all colours, kinds and sizes swam around under the hull of the boat. He then decided, he jumped down the railings with a hard thud, startling Toothless out from his slumber, he got an irritated glare from the panther, as he massaged his hurting leg. _I need to learn!_ Jack thought grimacing.

"Um… Toothless, I'm going to take a stroll around the island…" Jack said; he wasn't used to talk to animals like this. He climbed down from the ship and started to walk, a silent thud from behind him made him look around to find that Toothless followed him. He swallowed looking forward, trying to ignore the daggers the panther glared into his back. The rocks were cold to his naked feet, but it felt nice… he jumped down the last stone, a sting came from the wound, but the warm sand that grabbed around his feet made him think about something else. He kicked the sand laughing a bit. It was white, just as white as snow. He would have mixed the two together, if it weren't for the easy fact that snow melted when touched by something warm.

Jack continued to walk; Toothless following some steps behind, the Panther didn't trust the boy jet, he had shown no good example to why he even deserved to be trusted. Toothless growled a bit irritated, his tail twitching, his prosthetic, even if it made him walk easier was a pain to handle in sand, it kept sinking down in it. Toothless grew more and more irritated at it, and after a while he snarled at the red wood, making Jack turn around; hands behind his head, giving the panther a confused look. Toothless took some more steps and Jack saw the problem, he kept walking for a moment before he stopped.

"You don't have to follow me you know." Jack said, Toothless head shot up and glared at him. "Oh yeah… I **forgot** , Hiccup told _you_ to keep an eye on me." Jack started to walk again, but another snarl from the Panther made him give away an irritated groan he turned around taking of his belt that was bound over his white shirt, he walked to the panther who gave away a growl taking a step back. What was he planning to do with the belt? Toothless growled louder to warn Jack. "I'm not gonna hurt you." Jack sighed irritated at the reaction from the panther. Toothless only growled louder. "Trust me of once!" Jack shouted. Toothless glared at him. _"You don't deserve my trust"_ was clearly read in those green eyes. Jack glared back, before he threw his arms up in the air. "Screw it! Bite me if you want, but this is stupid." He said as he kneeled down next to the prosthetic, his back facing Toothless teeth. He took the belt and bound it around the end of the prosthetic along with a flat rock. When he was done he stood up again. Toothless lifted his leg and sniffed at it before he looked at jack with a puzzled expression. "You should be able to walk easier in the sand now." Jack said turning around and continued to walk again, his white shirt blowing around him now when the belt didn't keep it down.

"Was it really safe to leave Jack and Toothless back on the ship like that? He looked quite sad that he wasn't allowed to come." Rapunzel said looking at Hiccup, who sighed in response.

"Yeah. Toothless always follow you around." Eugene said.

"I didn't mean Toothless, I meant Jack." The blond said looking at Eugene who blinked.

"We barely know the kid! Would you trust someone you just met with the Fairy queen's safety?" Rapunzel looked away and louvered her head.

"No…" she mumbled out. "But still."

"'e's fine Punz, ye don't nee to worry so much." Merida said smiling big.

"You're probably right, Merida…" Rapunzel smiled and looked up into those blue eyes belonging to the other woman.

Toothless had to admit, even if he didn't like to, what Jack had done helped. The rock sank down a bit, but not as much as it probably would have, even if it made the prosthetic heavier it made him able to walk with more ease.  
Toothless stopped right in his steps, and sniffed the air, he didn't like this smell, not one bit, the smell of fish and wet human, along with the scent of salt. He started to growl silently, this only meant one thing, and it wasn't good.

Jack walked looking at the sand, kicking it up now and then; something red caught his interest from the corner of his eye, he turned his head to the beach where the ocean connected with the sand, There lying on in the sand a person was. Long wet red hair, sand had gotten caught in it; it was spread over the persons face and shoulders. He moved slowly towards it and yelped when a strong tough nearly made him fall backwards. He looked back to see Toothless biting his white shirt and growling.

"What?" Jack asked. "Let go of that!" he said trying to pull it free. Toothless let go looking pleading at Jack. "What's with you?" Jack asked mostly to himself before he started to move towards the person again. Toothless flinched and jumped in front of him baring his teeth and snarling at him. Jack stumbled backwards some steps, staring at the panther in shock. His arms had subconsciously moved in a defense position. "What?!" he called out. "Stop it. That person needs help." Toothless shook his head looking at Jack with those pleading eyes again. _"This is_ _ **not**_ _a person!"_ he shouted, but he knew Jack couldn't understand him. "Stop it Toothless." Jack said walking around the panther towards the person again. Toothless moved to bite around Jacks shirt again, but Jack spun out of his grasp with some fast feet moments. "Stop it!" Jack shouted; he was irritated with the panther. Toothless whined, but didn't attempt anymore bites or pulls. If he wanted to get hurt FINE! As if he'd cared for the kid.

Jack gave away a triumphant laugh, before he returned his interest to the person. As he got closer he saw that the person had no legs… but a long green fish tail.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Jack blinked, could it really be… but that was insane! Merfolk didn't exist…right? He moved closer, curiosity getting the best of him. He hear Toothless whine behind him, but the panther made no move to try and stop him.

A sudden jolt went thru the body of the mermaid, the head shot up and a hissing growl left its mouth, sand was stuck to the body of the mermaid. But he saw how the sun had started to dry her skin and scales. She needed to get back to the water, he knew it. He moved closer, only gaining a louder hissing growl form the mermaid.

"It's okay, it's okay… I won't hurt you." He said slowly looking into those ocean blue eyes. The mermaid glared at him giving away a growl, Jack sank down on his knees in the sand. "You need to get back to the water." He said slowly, the mermaid glared up at him thru the wet mop of red hair. Jack reached his hand towards her but pulled it back quickly falling on his back; the mermaid had tried to attack him, but ended up falling to the side. Her chest was rising and sinking, in hasty breaths, she glared at him with tired eyes. "I'm not your enemy. I want to help you back in the water." Jack sighed. The mermaid didn't seem to hear him as she fainted; due to lack of oxygen and drained energy because of the sun. Jack sighed moving a hand thru his brown bangs before he took a gentle grip of her and lifted her up, one arm on her back and the other where a normal persons knees would have been. He started to walk towards the water. He heard how Toothless moved closer.

It was cold. He shivered as the water reached his ankles. But he kept walking, the water slowly reaching higher. It reached above his knees when he felt the mermaid stir in his arms. He saw how the blue eyes opened up and blinked in confusion before she realized where she was. Pain shot thru jacks shoulder and he had to force his teeth together to not scream. She had bit him, hard in the shoulder. He felt every one of those small teeth dig into his flesh. She froze there shuddering due to the pain; he even felt the warmth from his own blood starting to travel down outside his skin. He heard Toothless give away an angry growl and some splashing as he knew the panther had run out in the water.

"Toothless- don't do anything." He hissed out turning his head to the panther that stopped giving him the most shocked expression he could muster. "See… there's nothing to be afraid of." Jack said slowly looking to the mermaid who let go in an instant, when she did Jack continued to walk, not realizing he had stopped. The pain was there, but it was not the worst pain he'd felt in his life. He could stand it. The water reached his waist when he slowly louvered the confused mermaid into the water. She sank and when her entire body was under water she dashed away splashing a strong wave over Jack. Who tumbled backwards and slipped on a rock landing on his butt in the water that reached to his chest when he sat down. He coughed and spat trying to get the salt water's taste out from his mouth.

Toothless looked at him, his entire shoulder were coloured red, and were the bite was the redness had a darker colour. He started to growl when he saw how the mermaid appeared further away she looked back at them, her red hair sticking to her shoulders like a cloth. She then dived and he saw that she swam towards Jack. Toothless growled louder and shouted out to Jack, who looked up; moving his wet hair from his face with one hand.

"What's with you now?" he asked tiredly. He jerked back a bit when another wave of water slashed over him. He coughed; ouch he got some in his nose. He turned his head and found the mermaid there, she glared at him, but he also found something else in those blue orbs, curiosity and confusion. He then noticed how she looked at the wound and moved her hand to it; she hesitated and he retreated, his shoulder a bit.  
The mermaid louvered her head, her wet hair falling to cover her face

"…Sorry…" she said in a hoarse voice looking at him with apologizing eyes.

"It's nothing really… I'm just glad you're back in the water where you belong- Ouch! What are you doing?!" Jack cried out when she pressed her hand against the wound.

"Stay still." She growled and pressed her hand harder against the wound. Jack grimaced; it hurt, but suddenly, to his surprise a strange tingling feeling started to spread instead of pain.  
The mermaid removed her hand and looked at him. Jack looked at her before he moved his shirt to see his shoulder, the wound were gone, just a faint scar was left.

"What… did you… do?" he asked not really proceeding what just happened.

"I used water to heal the wound I made." She said looking into his brown and blue eye.

"…thank you… I guess… um…" Jack looked at her, she blinked before she smiled.

"Ariel, my name is Ariel, and you are?" she moved closer making Jack lean backwards to not get to close.

"Jack." he said. The mermaid nodded and backed away and was just about to die and swim away when she stopped.

"I hope we'll meet again Jack, the ocean is big but may our paths cross again." she dived in to the water and darted towards the entrance to the island, but just before she reached it she jumped up high in the air, waving at him before diving again and left the islands waters to the big waste ocean outside.  
Jack stood up, water pouring of him, he started to walk back to shore where Toothless stood looking at him with- was that worry? Jack sighed, taking of his shirt and twisted it in his hands to get the most of the water out, before taking it back on. He started to walk again.

Toothless looked at him with a puzzled expression, the boy was confusing. He could put people in boxes from how they acted. He had been about to put Jack in the big box of people he did not trust, but now… he had seen how he'd saved the mermaid, no matter how hard Toothless had tried to stop him. Jack had even stopped him from attacking when the mermaid had bitten him. Toothless looked down at the sand shaking his head. He just couldn't understand him.

Jack stopped walking, exhaling tiredly. He looked forward, the beach continued in front of him, but as it kept going the sand grew less till rocks of the mountain walls took their place. He looked back towards the ship. His leg hurt, maybe due to the salt water… _"-If I find the wound worse than when I last saw it, I will use this."_ Jack shivered.

"Let's go back to the ship." He said turning around. Toothless looked confused at him before following.

Jack crawled over the railing with some help from Toothless and collapsed to the deck. He sighed tiredly looking up at the blue sky with tired eyes, he heard the thump from Toothless coming on-board; he walked to him and gave him a buff with the nose.

"'m fine… just a bit tired…" Jack mumbled moving a hand to push the panthers head away. Toothless took some steps back and sat down on the deck. He looked around the others had still not returned. A silent snoring reached his ears and he turned his head to find Jack asleep. His arms and legs were thrown out to his sides and his mouth slightly agape. The sun had started to dry his wet clothes and with it the pain in his leg started to ease, but the blood were still in his shirt, even if the wound was no longer there. Toothless walked towards him and lied down close to the boy and snoozed into a light sleep. A mumble from Jack made him open one eye and saw how the boy rolled to his side. One arm outstretched while the other lay at his chest. Toothless smiled a bit before closing his eye again.

Hiccup walked out on the beach, he took a deep breath and looked at the ship in front of him. The sky had turned crimson. He walked towards his ship only Aster and Rapunzel were with him. Aster walked both hands on his cheeks moving them up and down as he muttered complains under his breath.

"Now, now, Aster… I will get you some herbs okay." Rapunzel smiled. "She really gave you a mouth full this time."

"Don't remind me about it." Aster muttered out.  
Hiccup laughed as he walked out on the pier of rocks.

"Jack! Toothless!" he called out. It didn't take long before Toothless head peeked out from over the railing. He gave away a happy sound. "Hey there bud, can you help me up?" Toothless nodded and disappeared back for a moment before he returned with the rope-ladder in his mouth he dropped it down and Hiccup started to climb. He swung his legs over the railing and stopped when he saw Jack sleeping. Toothless walked up to him and buffed him, gaining a complained mumble from the boy. Rapunzel got over the railing and smiled a bit, but she froze when she saw the red of Jack shirt as he tried to push the panther away. She didn't care if he was asleep; she hurried forward her steps pounding against the wood, before she sank down on her heels over Jack and grabbed his collar.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" she shouted, startling the boy awake.

"Wha-what-"

"WHY IS YOUR SHOULDER COVERED IN BLOOD?!" Rapunzel started to shake him. She cast a glare at Toothless who made himself as small as possible. "DID TOOTHLESS BITE YOU?!" Jack would have answered if it weren't for the fact that he couldn't… she was shaking him to hard.

"Rapunzel calm down and let him explain." Aster said; he had just recently gotten up on the boat. Rapunzel exhaled loudly but let go of the boy. Jack fell hard to his back before he was able to sit up with his arms.

"What's with you?" Jack groaned trying to get the world to stop spinning. Before he cast a tired still half-awake glare at her. "I found a mermaid okay, what's the big deal?"

"YOU FOUND A WHAT?!" Rapunzel shouted making Jack jolt.

"I found a mermaid okay!" Jack grunted "She was stranded on the beach, I lifted her up and put her back in the water, she bit me, but healed my wound with her weird water-magic. Toothless tried to stop me from helping her tough." Jack sighed. "I still don't understand what the big deal is."

"What if she put some weird spell on you? Mermaids- no Merfolk in general is not to be trusted, you know how they like to drown people."

"She didn't drown me, and I feel fine, can you get off of me now?" Rapunzel stood up but looked at him with scanning eyes. "Whatever you guys are doing, do it already and let me sleep, I'm tired."

"Well… sleep if you want, but I had plans on letting you and Toothiana meet, she said she'd be interested in meeting you to." Jack sat up tiredly and looked at him.

"How much of a choice so I have?"

"None." Hiccup said before grabbing jack around the waist and throwing him over his shoulder, Jack gave away a shocked and startled yelp before he started to try and get free.

"Hey! Put me down!" he tried to kick himself free only to have Hiccup holding him harder. "Hiccup! Let go of me! Bastard!" other curses flew out from Jacks mouth as well, But Hiccup only laughed before he jumped down from the ship, Making Jack's river of curses stop.

"I didn't know a child of your age had such a big list of curses." Hiccup laughed.

"Whatever… Just- I can walk on my own!" Jack shouted.

"Sorry but no can do; Rapunzel's orders."

" ** _You're_** the captain! **_You_** give the orders, a captain don't follow the orders of the crew-members!" Jack shouted; still struggling, even if he knew it was worthless. Hiccup stopped laughing. "And the crew-members **_follow_** the orders without complaint or a say!"

"Rapunzel is the doctor, even _I_ ; the captain, follow her orders if it means the wound or injury will ease. So stop struggling." Hiccup's voice was cold. A loud groan left Jack's lips before he crossed his arms and pouted, making Aster laugh; but it quickly turned to a pained whimper when his swollen cheeks made themselves reminded. Rapunzel chuckled smiling warmly.

The shadows under the trees didn't provide any warmth, the sound from singing bird started to change, from those who sang at day to those that sang at night.

Jack blinked when he found that Hiccup and the others got shadows, he blinked lifting his upper body to turn his head around, his eyes opened wide. A big palace covered in gold and other beautiful warm colours. Big pillars reached for the sky, big cherry trees climbed the mountain walls, covered in bright pink flowers. He lifted his head to stare, the palace were many big pillars with balcony like floors. Laughter was heard along with the ringing from fairies, and the beating of small wings. Jack flinched sharply when his eyes landed on a big winged Elephant who slept at the entrance it opened its eyes and looked at them, standing up. It was HUGE! Jack's mouth fell open; he couldn't take his eyes from the elephant. Hiccup nodded his head to the Flying Elephant. He didn't say anything, it wasn't deeded. The Flying Elephant knew they were good people. The wise eyes of the elephant scanned Jack for a moment before lying down on the ground again. They walked inside the palace.

"What… was that just now?" he asked slowly "That was an elephant with _wings_ … WINGS!" Jack placed his hands over his face. "I must have gone crazy... elephant's aren't supposed to have wings."

"That's a Flying Elephant, Jack. They only exist here, they can feel the intentions of people, and if someone is bad, they take it, never to be forgotten." Rapunzel said smiling at him. "And if something was wrong with your head I would know." She added.

They kept walking for a while longer, until Jack suddenly felt Hiccup's grip change and soon he found himself sitting on a pillow in a ring along with the rest of the crew, in the middle a short table stood covered with fruits and vegetables.

"Took you long enough to get here, Hiccup." Eugene said grinning there he sat, looking over the food.

"Yeah… had to carry a struggling brat all the way here."

"Hey!" Jack shouted "I didn't-… struggle the entire time…" he mumbled out looking away. Hiccup noticed the slight blush on the boy's face.

A loud squeal echoed in the palace and Aster felt his body grow cold.

"Hiccup!" a female voice called out, Jack didn't recognize it, but soon he saw how a green blue blur come dashing from somewhere in the top of the palace, it stopped in front of Hiccup and he stiffened when he saw her. Green and blue feathers covering her light tanned body, around her wrists, ankles, neck and at the sides and middle of her head golden feathers instead of the green ones. Fast wings beet behind her back only visible as a pink blur. "Where is he? I want to meet him!" she squealed out looking around.

"Toothiana calm down a bit, okay." Hiccup laughed holding up his hands.

"I'm calm." She huffed flying backwards crossing her arms.

"Jack, this is Toothiana the Fairy Queen." Hiccup said gesturing to the big fairy before gesturing to Jack.

"Hi…" Jack said slowly not really sure what else to say.

"Jack Frost!" Toothiana squealed out dashing forward so that she was just inches from his face, Jack jolted and tumbled backwards. "I heard so much about _you_ and **your teeth**!"

"My- My what!?"

"Open up! Are they really as white as they say?" Jack didn't really have time to act before she dug her finger into his mouth. Jack trashed around for a moment trying to get free. How were you supposed to reach in this situation?! He tried to complain but only sounds left his mouth.

"Tooth, fingers out of mouth." Nicholas said.

"Oh." She pulled back. "Sorry~ they really do sparkle like freshly fallen snow." Jack collapsed to the floor. "Aster!" she then squealed. "Where are you~?" she called out as she flew around searching for the Pooka who had taken the moment to hide.

"You okay there?" Rapunzel asked sinking down on her heels looking at Jack's beet red face.

"Wha…t's wrong with… her?" he wheezed out.

"Nothing really, just maybe a teeny weeny bit too much in love with teeth… You will survive." A growl was all she got as reply from the boy.

A dark ship moved over the waves. Black sails and black oiled ship. A neighing horse in the front made by ebony. The sharp teeth from ivory and the eyes two burning lanterns. A howling wind blew around the ship. A big man walked along the deck; dark brown hair in dreadlocks hung down like a dying anemone, the beard were gathered in five stripes all bound by pearls in yellow and blue. Scars covered the man's face, he wore a blue shirt; with a scale like pattern, his left arm were a big metal prosthetic scratches and bents covered it, and over his broad shoulders a thick black mantel hung, around his waist a dark brown belt was the same pattern as the shirt, the pants were black and so where the high boots. At his side a White Mountain lion walked; some parts of its mane and fur were coloured red; from the dried blood of previous victims.

"I must say this is not a bad ship." His voice was dark but held a strong power to it as well.

"I glad it's to your liking." A not so dark voice answered, but it was more mysterious, a tall but thin man emerged from the shadows of one of the main masts. His black hair hung damp in the moistly air. Sharp nose and a black robe over his shoulders, chest naked, a blood red band around his waist, with a golden medallion fasten to it, and black pants that connected with the black boots. A grin with pointy teeth covered the man's sharp face. "It was really a pain to make them brainless creatures with my hypnosis, after the last ones blew up our last vessel."

"Just make sure not to break the hypnosis this time, or you will be Alphas next meal." The big man gestured with his flesh hand to the mountain lion who stroked its tongue around its mouth, looking at the man with small pupils.

"Yes… _Captain_." The tall man disappeared into the shadows again.

"Any trace from _the boy_ Gothel?" the Captain asked looking back to a black haired woman who stood at the helm. She had curly black hair and fair skin. She gave him an irritated glare.

"If you stop asking every tenth minute, I might end up giving you a positive answer for once." She muttered. Placing one hand on her hip. She wore a deep red corset that gave her body deeper female curves; under it she wore a light red tunica with wide arms that stayed loose at her wrists. Under this she wore black tights and her feet were in a pair of black high-heels. Her grey eyes were full of her own ego. "I've got no news. He's gone with the wind. You still doubt the possibility that he drowned at the barbarian's mutiny?"

"He's alive." The tall man made himself visible again. "I know it."

"Then why don't you just try and locate him instead, _Pitch Black_?"

"If only I could my deer Gothel, but my power does not work, unless I see the person I'm supposed to control."

"Doesn't that just make you useless in these situations?" she bit back.

"Just remember who to thank, that this ship even exists." The tall man said in a cold voice, the woman just muttered something under her breath in response.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The sun rose slowly over the horizon, making the ocean sparkle in red and pink, the high mountain hills with their trees seemed to burn in the light from the sun. Jack opened his eyes slowly, he was lying on the floor; the palace was actually glowing in the morning sun. He groaned throwing his arm over his face; he didn't want to wake up jet. Soft voices the reached his ears, they were too quiet for him to hear them so he had to put all his might into trying to hear. But he still couldn't make out what was said, he sat up slowly giving up the urge to fall asleep again, curiosity had taken over.  
He looked around on the floor, pillows lied scattered around among the crewmembers; Nicholas was, how he ever was able to, sitting up and sleeping, arms and legs crossed and head bowed forward. Eugene and Aster must have had a fight over space, because they lied with legs and arms tangled up in each other. He grinned when he saw it. Rapunzel and Merida on the other hand slept peacefully next to each other's, chairing one pillow and used Merida's jacket as blanket. It was first now he noticed that Hiccup and Toothless were missing. He looked around but didn't see them. He did a try to stand up, but his wounded leg said a clear no to that. Jack looked down at the bandage and saw how it had gotten a bad colour, he swallowed, yep. Rapunzel would kill him for sure. He crawled on all four, no three, over towards her. His wounded leg hurt when he started to move around. He placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her lightly.

"Hey, Blondie." He said; a groan left Rapunzel before her green eyes opened up to look at him in confusion.

"What is it Jack?" she asked tiredly sitting up a bit. Jack looked away.

"Could... you... um... take a look at the wound..." he mumbled out.

"Huh? This is unusual, you usually complain about me checking you every time, why the change in heart." Jack exhaled sharply before looking at her thru his brown locks.

"It... hurts." He said looking away again. Rapunzel looked at him before looking at the bandage around his leg. She only had to look at the bandage to know the fault to the pain.

"It's the salt water..." she said slowly, standing up placing Merida's jacket over the sleeping sniper. Rapunzel walked away a bit before kneeling down at Nicholas opening a small wooden chest. She took out bandages and some other things Jack had no idea what they were for. She returned to him and helped him stand and move to a better place, he sank down with a grunt on a stone. Rapunzel started to remove the bandage and Jack felt sick when he saw it. It was irritated, and also infected. Rapunzel threw the old bandage to the floor before she sighed, this wouldn't do... she needed to get a better look at the wound, all she saw now was the wound thru the gashes in Jack's pants. She scratched the side of the head thinking.

"Your pant's are in the way... they need to come off..." she looked up at him. "Do you think you can do it by yourself, or do I have to help you?"

"I can try..." Jack mumbled out.

After a bit of struggling; some water around the wound, to get the fabric of the pants to let go of the wounded flesh, and some pained whimpers; the pants come off.

"Here." Rapunzel said as she held out two round orbs in a green grey colour "Eat them, it will help later." Jack took the orbs and ate them; he grimaced at the taste, but swallowed and shivered from the disgusting taste "This will hurt a bit." she had cleaned and fixed it so that it was clean, now she only had to sterilise it... with alcohol. She took up a bottle and took of the plug. Jack eyes her. "Do you want to bite into something?" she held out a piece of cloth, Jack took it and bound it around his mouth to bite into. Rapunzel looked up at him before moving so that she had a tight grip of his leg, she knew the reaction that would come well enough... she had ended up being kicked several times. She emptied the bottle over the wound. Jack jolted and she felt how his entire body stiffened. A choked cry left his mouth before he bite down hard in the cloth, forcing his eyes shut. She felt how his leg tried to get free, but she never gave it room to move until the last drops of alcohol left the bottle. "You okay?" she asked after a while. Jack gave her a stiff nod. His head had fallen forward and she could see that he was trembling. She lifted her hand and strokes some of his brown hair away from his face. He looked at her wired and a bit feverish eyes. She gave him a warm smile. "Take it easy for the rest of the day okay." She were about to stand when Jack collapsed forward. Rapunzel gave away a surprised peep before catching him. "Jack?" no response.  
She looked down and saw that he'd lost conscious. She sighed before gathering him in her arms. He was lighter then she first thought. She kicked up his pants with a fast jolt of her foot and catches them in her hand, before she placed him down at some pillows; she moved one up under his leg before grabbing a blanket and placed it over him. She sat down next to him and started to fix the holes in his pants with her needle and thread. She looked up when she heard voices that came their way, and saw how Hiccup and Toothiana were talking, Toothless waked next to him as the queen fairy hovered still in the air beside them.

Hiccup woke up before the sun. The sky was starting to grow bright at the east; but the stars still concurred the heavens. He stood up stretching his stiff body, looking around at his crew. He snickers when he saw how Aster and Eugene fought over space, giving away tired grumbling and muttering at the same time. Hiccup started to walk, he looked around to see if he could find Toothless, but in the faint light, it was just as hard as to find a needle in a pile of hay. But it didn't take long before he felt the warm fur against his hand and heard a purring chirp next to him to know that Toothless had found him first.

"Good morning bud." A happy growl came from the panther.

They walked to the highest balcony and over a bridge to the mountain top, a gigantic and old cheery tree grew at the side, some hummingbird fairies flew around with a soft "hum" coming from them. Toothless jumped a bit before sitting down among the cherry trees roots and stones. Hiccup followed and they both looked out over the waste ocean if he turned his head around the ocean always reached to the horizon, noting broke it. The first rays of sun then hit them, they were warm; Hiccup closed his eyes and sat down on a rock smiling.

After a while the sound of bigger wings reached Toothless ears he looked up and saw how Toothiana came flying, she talked to some of her fairies that darted away when she was done before she flew over to them.

"Good morning, my honourable Captain." She said, Hiccup turned around and smiled at her.

"Good morning, my fair Queen." Hiccup turned to her as he stood up.

"Are the others still sleeping?" she asked with a warm motherly smile.

"They are, and especially the young." A chuckle left her mouth.

"It's unusual to meet someone new here." She said. "Your crew are the only ones to come here more than once, after you saved my little Baby Tooth."

"Well." Hiccup laughed "It's always nice to come here now and then, to see how everybody's doing. By the way, where's Baby Tooth now?"

"Oh, I asked her and some other fairies to get something for me, gifts for Jack and Rapunzel." Hiccup hummed and gave her a sly smile.

"And what is this gift for them?"

"You will see." Toothiana grinned at him.

They started to move back down to the ground, the sun beaming at them with its light and warmth. They talked, Hiccup told Toothiana everything that had happened since last time. As they walked Toothless trotted next to Hiccup.

They had reached the ground when Hiccup saw how Rapunzel sat next to Jack; sewing.

"Good morning Rapunzel." Hiccup said. The blond woman smiled and nodded to them. Toothiana flew over to them before stopping to hover over Jack.

"Is he sick?" she asked in worry a silent chuckle came from Rapunzel.

"No, he's not sick. I just did a cleaning of the wound on his leg. He's sleeping right now." Toothless walked over buffing at Jack's head. "Toothless, let him rest, he's tired." The panther looked at her in confusion; the boy had been the one to fall asleep first, so why was he still sleeping?

"How did it go?" Hiccup asked. "I thought the wound were starting to heal."

"The saltwater from yesterday, too much moments, it had gotten infected and irritated. I had to scrub it clean, not pain free, before pouring a bottle of alcohol over it and then bandage." When she mentioned alcohol Hiccup grimaced, and he could remember how much it had hurt the first month after he'd lost his leg. He shivered and crossed his arms, not funny memories. "Right now I'm fixing the gash in his pants."

One after another the crew-members woke up. To eat the breakfast Rapunzel and Toothiana; with some help from the fairies, had fixed. Jack was still sleeping just as deep as before.

"Did you drug him Rapunzel?" Eugene asked looking at the doctor.

"I only gave him painkillers and it takes energy to heal." Rapunzel answered. It was at the end of the breakfast when a groan reached their ears, Rapunzel turned around to see how Jack sat up pulling a hand thru his locks.

"Good morning, _Sleeping Beauty_." Merida said grinning. She got a tired glare as reply.

"How do you feel Jack?" Rapunzel asked a groan was all she got at first

"…feel sick…" he mumbled out.

"You might feel a bit groggy from the painkilling herbs I gave you."

"Hungry?" Nicholas asked holding a full plate in his hand. Jack looked at the food, but he had no appetite, he shook his head.

"Not hungry…" Nicholas nodded and put down the plate again.

Jack looked down at his wounded leg, the wound were covered by the bandage, a bit too tight for his liking. He groaned and fell back to the pillows looking up at the high palace. Soon a black mess of fur took over his vision. Toothless looked down at him with pupils; that weren't as small as they had been at first, but not as big as they were with the rest of the crew.

"What?" Jack asked tiredly. Toothless sat down now, giving away a growl and moving his head, it actually sounded as if he was talking, even if it was only sounds he was able to produce. "I don't understand what you're trying to-" he didn't get further before toothless started to lick and buff him. Jack flinched as the wet rough tongue stroke over his neck and ear and up his brown hair. He was completely thrown off guard. "Ah! Hiccup!" Jack called out trying to push the panther away. "What is he doing!?" Hiccup looked up and nearly spit out his drink at the sight; were Toothless had licked him Jack's hair stood up.

"He's _making_ you a part of the _flock_."

"What?!" Jack stared at Hiccup in shock, before trying to push the panther away again. "Will you stop tha-!" he couldn't muster any air to scream at first; when Toothless accidentally placed his paw on Jack's wound, he was just able to give away a pained squawk, that only Toothless heard; and it alerted the panther enough to stop.  
Jack fell back down to the pillows grimacing in pain, not knowing what to do with his hands, the feeling of just wanting to run away kicked in, but what use did that do? Toothless stood up giving away a worried sound. Jack just cast him a tired glare. "Don't **_step_** on wounded people!"

The sun shone high in the sky when they started to make themselves ready to leave the island again. The air was full of singing birds; some good other's **not** so good. Jack had tried to help, but had been told back by Rapunzel; who had told him to just sit still and rest his leg from strain. He had complained in the beginning, but after a while he accepted the rest, more than he let show. Rapunzel's painkilling medicine had started to wear off, but he didn't want to ask for more; due to the groggy feeling he got. It was during this time he noticed the relation the crew had with each other, he noticed that no one were on a higher level than the rest. He smiled inside when he saw how Hiccup called out for Eugene and Aster to stop teasing each other like some love birds and help to carry the food they had gotten from Toothiana to the ship, he carried just as much as the others.  
Jack looked down at his hands. Thinking… it would be nice… to have a captain like Hiccup… and not like- he tensed and quickly shook his head to get break the train of memories to take a U-turn.

He sighed deeply, exhaling more than really needed until his lounges were completely empty of air, before breathing in slowly.

"So we only got a few things left before we're ready to go." Hiccup said as they returned from the ship a last time. Jack turned his head to look at them. He could barely take the pain anymore, but tried his best to mask it. "Toothiana you talked about some gifts…" Hiccup continued looking at the queen fairy who had taken Aster hostage to look at his teeth.

"Ah!" she quickly retreated her hands; looking at Hiccup. "Right, I almost forgot." She darted away calling some fairies. It didn't take long before some fairies came flying, four held a big shepherd staff in their small hands, the staff had a G like hook at the top, the wood were dark and old, but it still didn't look rotten. Two other fairies carried a small bag in their hands, a leather rope were attached to it. Toothiana took the staff and bad and thanked her fairies that all flew away but one.

"Rapunzel, this is for you." Toothiana said flying up to the blond woman and hanging the bad around her neck. "Open it if you're in a horrible situation, it will help." Rapunzel looked at the bag and smiled.

"Thank you my Queen." Toothiana smiled before flying over to Jack.

"Here, it may not look like much, but believe me; this staff will help you more than you might think." Jack looked at the staff with a puzzled expression, a strange feeling grew inside when he saw it, he lifted his hands and were about to take it, a spark of energy shot out from the wood, making him flinch, when a tingling feeling spread thru his hands as he took the wood, a feeling similar to the one he'd felt the first time he'd seen snow grew inside of his chest. He stared at the staff moving it in his hands, it felt familiar and also as if it belonged in his hands, but how was he to explain that?

"…Thanks… I guess…" he mumbled out not taking his eyes from the staff as the let his fingers trail over the wood.  
He missed Toothiana's warm smile that she cast towards Hiccup, who blinked in confusion, before he smiled back.

"Well then, I will wait till next time, take care of yourself okay!" Toothiana called out waving her arm at the entrance of the palace; the Flying Elephant waved its trunk and ears in goodbye.

Rapunzel waved back smiling, and so did everyone else… well almost, Jack had in the end asked for a painkilling orb, from Rapunzel, and was now dozing half asleep over Hiccup's back, who used the staff as support.  
Toothiana looked after them as they were swallowed by the trees. She sighed and smiled warmly.  
"Stay safe"

The Night Fury floated slowly towards the hole in the mountain and passed thru the ivy before it took and headed west. Rapunzel had promptly dragged, Jack to the boy's rooms and put him into the hammock Hiccup had been sleeping in the last couples of days, and only given him one order.  
"Rest. If I see you up on deck I will use this and drag you down here again." she moved the frying pan in her hand. Jack had only heard the word rest and barely that before he dozed off and fell asleep, being rocked by the swaying that the waves made the ship do.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Hiccup stood with his arms resting over the helm, gazing out over the ocean; some brown locks moving lazily in the wind. _"_ _ **You're**_ _the captain!_ _ **You**_ _give the orders, a captain don't follow the orders of the crew-members! And the crew-members_ _ **follow**_ _the orders without complaint or a say!"_  
Hiccup muttered something under his breath when Jack's words were brought back to mind.  
It sounded as if he actually had a _captain_ ; Hiccup's face grew darker as his thoughts kept going. If Jack was drawn to say things like that, then his captain must either be a madman or a really power-hungry person, if not both. Hiccup taught back to how Jack had grabbed a knife and getting into a defence stand the first thing he did, after waking up in the cabin.

Toothless looked at him in worry, he stood up and walked over to the pirate captain, and buffed his head against Hiccup's leg before stroking his body against it; purring up at him. Hiccup blinked and looked down at the panther and smiled, placing his hand on Toothless head as the panther placed his front paws on the fence looking at him, giving away a questioning sound.

"Don't worry bud, I'm just thinking." Hiccup smiled at him, before he looked out over the ocean again and Toothless ears fell sadly when Hiccup's face turned dark again. Toothless whined sadly.

A small growling sound beside him made him turn his head; Pascal sat there on the fence with a big piece of orange in his mouth, smiling big in the same colour as the fruit.

" _Don't be sad Toothless._ " He said after swallowing, leaving only the skin of the orange left.

" _But, Hiccup seems troubled. I have to help him._ "

" _He's thinking about Jack._ " Pascal explained finding it amusing that the panther hadn't figured it out jet.

" _Why is he making that face then?! Hiccup like Jack._ " Pascal shrugged giving away a confused sound.

" _I don't know everything on this ship._ " Toothless nearly pushed the Chameleon of the fence. Toothless stepped down from the fence, looking up at the Chameleon.

" _What do you think of the boy?_ " Pascal tilted his head. " _What is your first impression of him?_ "

" _Jack is a good person, and I think you have noticed it too_ " Toothless gave a slight nod. " _He seems to be troubled by something, even if he tries to not let it show. The others are blind to it, but you and me; we can feel what a human's feelings and intentions are._ " Pascal climbed down from the fence and walked up to Toothless who looked down at him.

" _Yes, but-_ "

" _You worry too much, let's wait the situation out and then make our decision in however we are going to trust him or not._ "

" _Fine…_ " Toothless sighed and let himself flop to the deck.

Jack grimaced rolling to his side, he mumbled something in his sleep; he turned again whimpering, before shaking his head, a faint 'no' left his mouth as he kicked out, making his hammock swing.  
It was late, and everyone was asleep. Nicholas snored loudly there he slept in his red hammock. Eugene slept in a blue green hammock next to the big man; arms crossed over his chest and a pair of big muffs over his ears to keep the snoring out, beside his stiff pose, his face was calm and relaxed. Aster groaned there he lied staring up in the roof, even if he lied further away from Nicholas than Eugene it didn't really matter, those nights when the man didn't snore were a blessing.  
Aster grunted turning to his side, his back facing Nicholas. He cast an eye towards Jack, in the faint light in the room; he could see the boy trash around. He closed his eyes and was just about to sleep when a harsh gasp made him open his eyes again. Jack sat up his chest heaving and he slowly placed his trembling hands over his neck leaning more forward.

"Nightmare?" Aster asked tiredly; he must have startled the boy; because Jack jolted, quickly looking at him, having no time to mask the fear from the nightmare he just had.

"Yeah..." he mumbled out looking away.  
Aster sighed and stood up and walked over to where the lantern hung down in a chain from the roof. He took out some matches and lit it, a warm light spread in the room, he made so that the wick become smaller making the light dimmer. He let go of the lantern wafting the match out, before turning back to his hammock. He lied down closing his eyes. He heard how Jack rustled with the blanket and pillow for a moment before silence overtook the room.  
When had Nicholas stopped snoring? "Thanks... Aster..." he heard Jack mumbled out.

"Don't sweat it." Aster said; he didn't know just how much lightning the lantern had helped.

Jack looked at Aster for a short moment longer, before making himself comfortable in the hammock; sighing deep, sinking deeper into the hammock and closed his eyes, no nightmares to bother him the rest of the night, thanks to the faint light coming from the lantern.

The morning began like normal: Nicholas waking up first, preparing breakfast, and after him the rest of the crew dropped in when they woke up.

"Morning Nicholas." Hiccup said as he walked down the stairs, Toothless following.

"Ah, Good Morning Hiccup, how you slept?"

"Good actually." He sat down on a chair taking some of the food and began to eat.

"Yeah, ya don't have to withstand his snoring anymore." Aster muttered; he was always in a bad mode during the mornings, he was sipping on some coffee to wake up properly.

"I do not snore." Nicholas said turning around with a bowl of pancake batter that he was stirring.

"Ye do." Aster pointed at him with the marmalade knife before stroking it out over a piece of bread. "Ye snore louder than when ma egg-bombs explode." Nicholas opened his mouth to say something back but was cut off by Merida who slammed the door to the girl's room open.

"Will ye two shut it?" Merida muttered, closing the door. "Why do ya have to bicker first thing in the morning?" she sat down on a chair next to Hiccup, taking a piece of bread; and ate it as it was.  
It didn't take long before Rapunzel joined the breakfast as well, she always woke up some moments after Merida, last came Eugene yawning big and stretching his body.

"Good morning." He said and sat down next to Merida and started to eat as well.

The door to the boy's room opened and a big yawn was the first thing they saw, before a half awake bed haired Jack came walking; even if it was more of halting.

"Good morning Jack, did you sleep well?" Rapunzel asked smiling at him. A mumbled 'morning' was all she got as replay, before Jack slumped down next to Aster; the Pooka gave the teen a scanning look.

"No more nightmares?" he asked, only so loud for Jack to hear, a slight shake of the head gave him the answer, Toothless ears perked and he cast a glance at Jack from the bowl of food Nicholas had filled for him.  
Why would Jack have nightmares?

Days passed as the Night Fury sailed over the big waste ocean, some smaller islands peeked up over the surface, but otherwise they were alone on the water. Due to the Painkiller Rapunzel gave him, Jack slept more than usually, it was good in one way, he didn't put strain on his leg, but at the same time, nightmares plagued his mind, making him just lay in his hammock and stare up in the roof, until Aster came to check on him, he was the only one who knew about the nightmares, usually to light the lantern helped, but slowly the light from it didn't help at all.

Toothless looked up when Aster opened the door to the galley and walked inside, Toothless stood up following after; he needed to know what aster was doing. The Pooka had gone down a lot lately, but never returned with something. Toothless sneaked down the stairs to the open door to the boy's room. He was undetectable if he didn't want to be spotted. Toothless green eyes looked inside.

"Ye awake?" Aster asked as he picked up Jack's blanket from the floor placing it over the brunette. A grunt left the boy; he lied with his arms over his eyes.

"The lantern doesn't help anymore..." he mumbled. Aster sighed looking at him; he took a light grip of Jacks arm and lifted it from the boy's face; he looked so tired, dark circles under his eyes from the lack of sleep.

"What do ya want me to do?" Aster placed his hands on his hips giving the kid a stern glare, but it was still worried.

"Don't know..." Jack looked away placing his arm over his face again. Toothless entered the room.

"Toothless why are ya here?" Aster asked looking at the panther in confusion, Toothless growled something in reply before walking up to Jack's hammock looking at the boy who lifted his arms a bit to look back at the panther.

"What do you want?" Jack mumbled out tiredly.  
Toothless nodded and buffed Jack's hammock; making it start to sway. Toothless looked at Aster who gave the panther a chuckle before he made the lantern burn stronger; before leaving the room.  
When the door closed behind him, he made a decision; Rapunzel and Hiccup needed to know about these nightmares.

Jack looked at the panther, even if he knew Toothless wouldn't do any harm, he still felt uneasy being with the panther alone.  
Toothless eyed him, before; to Jack's surprise, climbed up in the hammock and lay down next to the boy.

"Toothless..? What are you doing?!" Toothless just looked at him before placing his head on Jack's chest closing his eyes. Jack just stared; he just couldn't understand how the panther could in one minute be cold and untrusting towards him and in the next be like this. Jack lifted his hand and hesitated before he placed it on Toothless neck; the black fur was soft and thick, he stroked his fingers thru the fur making Toothless purr, the vibration that his body made, made Jack slowly relax and soon he was asleep, his hand stopped moving but still lied on the panthers neck.  
The Panther moved his head a bit nuzzling it up under Jack's jaw, his tail hanging down from the hammock.

Aster closed the door to the galley and looked around after the captain and the navigating-doctor; he walked up the stair to where the helm was, and also where Rapunzel and Hiccup stood talking with the big map in front of them. Pascal was running over it chasing after a fly trying to catch it with his tongue now and then, but ended up running of the table as he caught it, rolling around on deck before he came to a stop; Aster looked at the chameleon and chuckled. Rapunzel looked up from the map raising an eyebrow at the chameleon.

"Pascal what are you doing?" she said in a questioning voice. The chameleon stood up shaking its head before looking at her giving away a dizzy sound.

"Hiccup." Aster said making the brown haired captain look up and turn around to face him.

"Aster." He said smiling "What is it?" Aster looked at Rapunzel; who gave him a confused look.

"It's about Jack." He said crossing his arms and sighing, coming to a stop at the table

"What about him? His leg is healing fine there shouldn't be anything wrong with him." Rapunzel started, but she stopped when Hiccup lifted his hand.

"What's wrong with Jack, Aster?" he asked calmly.

"Nightmares." Aster stated looking at the two of them. "He's been having them for around a week now, till now a lantern has been enough to keep them away, but it seems not to help anymore... that what he told me at least..."

"Nightmares?" Rapunzel thought for a moment. "They can't be because of the painkillers… has he told you what their about?" The Pooka shook his head

"No, 'e has not… but they seem to be bad."

"What is he doing now?"

"Sleeping I think… if not, he's talking with Toothless." Hiccup smiled but Rapunzel frowned.

"Rapunzel what's wrong?"

"I wonder... what are we going to do if the nightmares get worse?" she looked between them "He might start to try and stay awake or in the worst case get insomnia, and if he doesn't get the rest he needs, his leg and health will get bad." She had a worried look on her face.

"We will deal with it when it happens." Hiccup said. "They might calm down, who knows." Aster nodded.

Pitch looked out over the deep blue ocean and grinned; he could feel him. The fear slowly growing only making his grip stronger; but he was still too far away, but they got closer.  
Dagur's annoying laugh rang behind him, before Eret's irritated voice took its place as the older shouted something to the younger.  
Pitch turned his head to find the two arguing about something, Dagur; standing in his brown tunic and grey pants with a dark brown leader belt over his torso and deep brown boots that reached up to his knees, his brown hair combed back from his face, over his eyes and right arm three blue striped tattoos went, and he grinned like the idiot he was, holding an slithering eel in his arms. Eret on the other hand wore a white shirt and dark blue-grey pants, over his torso a blue belt with lighter squares on, and his grey-brown boots reached just up over his ankles, where they met his loose pants, the tattoo on his jaw stood out on his pale skin, as his black hair that usually was combed back over his head now stood in all directions as smoke rose from him as well. The eel was an electric one, and for some reason, Pitch found it quite interesting that the young boy seemed to be immune to its shocks… while Eret wasn't.

"Throw that _thing_ back into the ocean!" Eret shouted pointing at the eel in anger. Some sparks still jumped over his body. Dagur laughed.

"Why would I?" he said grinning, but the tension was still between the two. Eret groaned irritated rolling his eyes and gesturing to Dagur as if he was a complete idiot; which he was. Before turning around and walking away, what use did it do to argue with an idiot?

"So… you found some food Dagur." Pitch said walking up behind the boy placing his hand on his shoulder, Dagur jumped in fright, he never heard the man walking. He turned his head slowly to look up in those yellow eyes that in some lights seemed to glow like the ones of an evil spirit. The eel hissed and showed it's small but sharp fangs at him. Pitch looked at it and the eel stopped to hiss and bowed its head slowly. "That's good but I still love grilled eel more than your puny life." He made a moment to grab the eel and a sock of electricity exploded out around the eel in a self-defending reflex. Dagur just stared in fright at Pitch who suddenly grinned; showing all those pointy teeth of his as he took a deadly grip of the eel throwing it overboard. He clasped his hands and chuckled when he saw the fear over Dagur's face. "What's wrong Deranged, did you seen a ghost?" his voice was mused.

"Have you found him jet?" Drago growled out looking at the only members of his crew who wasn't mind-controlled by Pitch. "I'm starting to grow inpatient." Gothel sat and fixed her nails, seeming to not care at all about Drago's anger.

"We don't know where he is. I still believe he drowned back then when the mutiny was or was killed by the people Pitch controlled." She sighed looking unhappy at her hand. "I'm not getting any younger here…"

"We're still too far away for me to be able to control him, but nightmares works fine for the time being."

"Then you know where he is." Drago glared at the tall man who just laughed in reply.

"Not his exact position, but I know we're heeding the right way." His grin grew wider. "And his fear is so growing stronger." Eret looked away out over the dark ocean; he stood resting against the railing still facing his captain and the other crewmembers.

"How long?" Drago asked in a harsh voice

"One and a half, to two weeks… _Captain_." Pitch answered.

The night's went by calmly, no nightmares startled Jack awake, Toothless held guard, lying with the boy in the hammock waking him up whenever a nightmare were about to start.

They had started to calm down and Jack got the rest he needed for the leg to get better, according to Rapunzel he would be able to take of the bandage soon, and he had taken those news with a big glee, he didn't really need the painkillers anymore, but he was still tired, and slept most of the day and night.

Toothless purred there he rested half of his body next to Jack in the hammock while the other part lied over the boy. He was about to fall asleep when a strong kick in his side sent him flying of the hammock and hit the floor hard, he gave away a shocked yelp sitting up as Jack cried out in pure fear, falling out from the hammock and backing up against the wall grabbing his hair curling together eyes open wide in horror, but he wasn't awake.  
Jack's scream startled Aster awake and he sat up quickly and hurried to the boy.

"Jack." he said in a worried voice. Nicholas and Eugene woke up as well.

"What's going on..?" Eugene groaned still not fully awake. Aster kneeled down in front of Jack.

"Jack." he said calmly reaching a hand for the boy, but it was slapped away and he saw how Jack pushing himself further against the wall.

"What ar' ye doing, some of ous are trying ta sleep…" Merida's voice said annoyed there she and Rapunzel stood in the open door to the boy's room, her red hair was even messier than normal. Rapunzel looked worriedly at him and Jack; she didn't say anything but walked inside sinking down to her knees next to him looking at Jack.

"What's wrong Jack?" she asked slowly. No reply. She reached for his shoulder and he once again slapped them away, retreating. "He's still not fully awake…" she said as she bended down so that she could see his eyes. She felt her entire body grow cold when she saw the faint yellow glow that clouded them. She grew determined, she moved closer not taking her eyes of. "Jack." she said, she saw that he reacted to the mention of his name. "Easy, it's okay… it's only a bad dream… look at me. Jack." her voice was calming and as she talked she moved her hands to his shoulders. He flinched and tried to push her away, but she took a firm but gentle grip on his wrists. "It's okay… Jack, schh it's okay." She brought him into a hug holding him tightly; he fought back for a short moment, trying to get free, before she felt how his body started to lose its tenseness.

"What's wrong?" Hiccup stood at the entrance looking worriedly at all of them. Toothless whined as he walked up to his captain, Hiccup placed a hand on the panthers head looking down at him smiling before looking back up again.

"They're gotten worse." Aster said standing up; looking at him whit tired eyes.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Rapunzel took of the patch from the wound and smiled as she looked up at Jack, who sat on Hiccup's bed. It had been decided that Jack were to share the cabin with the captain… this also meant sharing the bed; since Hiccup's cabin wasn't big enough for another bed or had anything to fasten a hammock between, but to her and the others relief it seemed as if the nightmares had calmed,  
for now.

"The wound is completely healed." She standing up "This is good is it not?" he nodded and smiled.

When they got out from the cabin they saw how Nicholas and Hiccup trained with swords, Nicholas held two sables in his hands and grinned big at Hiccup who held one sword; it was thin; Jack stared at it as a yellow flame burst out around the blade. He looked at Rapunzel unable to utter any words pointing at the sword; she just chuckled at him, before he returned to stare at it in awe. They made some attacks and blocks, but mostly it was just to not get rusty. When they were done Nicholas noticed Jack standing next to the doctor.

"Ah! Jack, good time you here." he suddenly called out putting his swords back in their sheets, placing his hands on his hips grinning wide to the boy; Hiccup let the fire die out before the blade was swallowed by the handle and he put the sword to the belt that went over his chest; under the coat. "Give Jack sword." Nicholas then continued, Jack blinked and gave away a loud confused sound.

"What? Why do I need a sword?" Nicholas looked amused.

"To train of course." He said taking one of his swords and threw it at Jack who flinched and dove out of the way of the sword; that clattered against the wood on the deck where it hit the wood. "No. Jack. You have to catch sword." Nicholas said unhappy.

"DON'T THROW SWORDS AT PEOPLE AND EXPECT THEM TO CATCH THEM!" Jack cried out, staring wide-eyed at the shipwright, hands gesturing to the sword that was lying on the deck. Merida snorted there she sat up in the crow's-nest looking down at them with interest, now and then looking around the ship.

Jack grabbed around the handle of the sword; Nicholas just thrown at him, lifting it up with a grunt, he tumbled a bit by the pure weight the sword had, taking him by surprise, but after a bit of struggling he got it up so that the tip pointed to Nicholas…  
not for long.  
The sword was too heavy and the tip fell back to the deck, and Jack grunted unhappy.

"Jack." Nicholas said.

"How can you lift these things as if they're noting?" Jack grunted trying to lift the sword again.

"It not heavy." Nicholas said walking forward helping him lift the sword; and nearly made the boy fall backwards, as he did. "Hold like this." He said holding his other sword in one hand. Jack just gave him an 'are you kidding me' glare as he took a harder grip of Nicholas sword, with both hands, the man let go and Jack nearly fell to the deck, but was now able to keep himself and the tip it up.

The first training ended fast: Nicholas had told Jack to attack him, the boy had tried, but lost the balance of the sword as he had dashed for the man, the tip hit the deck, sending him tumbling forward and almost overboard if Eugene hadn't grabbed the back of his collar and shoulder. He took Nicholas sword form the boy, and threw it at the shipwright who caught it without a problem.

"Here, take this one instead, its lighter." Eugene said as he gave him the sword he'd been sharpening earlier that day. Jack looked at the sword, before he took it; it was dramatically lighter than Nicholas.

"Come on Jack." Nicholas said putting one of his swords back. Jack held the sword in his hands; it felt foreign and strange to him. How was he supposed to handle these!?

Jack moved his feet a bit not sure if he was just to dash forward as he had done before, or move slowly. He didn't know swords at all. "Show me something epic Jack!" Nicholas shouted grinning as the two started to walk in a circle, facing each other, Nicholas was grinning, while Jack felt as if he was to try and catch the moon!

How it had happened Jack wasn't sure, one moment he had been standing on his feet, the next, he was laying on his back, fighting to get his breath back; from the hard collision with the deck he'd just done. The sword Eugene had given him had skidded away over the wood.  
He groaned as he sat up slowly. Nicholas had blocked his attack, so much he knew.

"You balance is off." Nicholas stated "You do not hold sword good either." Jack stood up with some help from Rapunzel and brushed dirt away from his clothes.

"'ave 'e even used ay sword before?" Merida asked from above snickering.

"No." Jack answered; Aster looked to the side of the ship, where among some barrels the hooked staff Toothiana given the boy stood lonely leaning against a barrel under the stairs. He took it up and walked over to Jack who had taken the sword again.

"Ay." He said; Jack looked at him, his blue and brown eye filled with confusion.

"What?" Aster took the sword from the boy's hands before holding out the staff.

"Try this, instead." He said; Jack raised one eyebrow in confusion.

"Aster, stick is not sword." Nicholas complained.

"Tooth' gave it to 'im, there must be a reason why, and 'e can't possibly be worse with the staff then e's with the swords." Aster said looking at the big man, before looking back at Jack, who took the staff in his hands.

"Still, stick is not sword." Nicholas sighed.  
Jack moved the staff in his grip spinning it around a bit to find the balance, once he found it he turned to Nicholas.

"Well let's see now." Hiccup said from the helm; where he had walked. Nicholas moved his grip on his sword and looked at Jack and saw a glint in those eyes that he hadn't seen before, Jack knew how to handle shepherd staff's, he'd been using them his whole life!

"Come at me." Nicholas said, and Jack did. This time he seemed, to the others surprise, to be more in sync with the staff than any of the swords. "Thant's more like it." Nicholas hummed more to himself than any of them, smiling as he blocked Jack's attack with the flat side of the sword, not to cut the staff in half, a spark of frost exploded out when the sword and staff collided, and a big cloud of snow puffed down over the Night Fury.  
Everyone just stared in shock.  
Jack tumbled backwards nearly dropping the staff; who was now glowing in a bright blue colour, as the air around it hazed because of the cold that it radiated out. Jack just stared at it not sure how to feel. Nicholas looked at his sword where frost now melted in the warmth of the sun dropping down to the deck, where the snowflakes melted to puddles.

"What..?" he mumbled out putting his sword back as he walked towards Jack; looking at the staff in confusion. Jack looked up at him, and it was clear he had no idea what just happened. "Can I look at staff?" the shipwright asked, Jack gave him a stiff nod and held out the staff, Nicholas took it and just as Jack let go of it, the glow and haze, that it had created seconds earlier, vanished. Nicholas blinked stunned at this. "Take it again." he said showing the staff into Jack's chest before he placed his hand on the staff and the glow and haze returned as he did.

"Magic..." They heard Merida gasp from the crow's next, before she jumped down landing on the deck hard and walked up to him shoving her finger into his shoulder "Yer a _witch_!" she shouted giving him a last shove before taking away her hand.

"What? No! I- I'm not a witch!" Jack looked shocked at her and let go of the staff, which in return stopped its special-effects as it dropped to the deck.

"Doesn't tha prove et!?" Merida cried out pointing at the staff that now lied lonely on the deck. "Yer a witch!" she pointed at Jack again.

"Merida, calm down, I know you don't like witches, but calm down." Rapunzel said walking up to her placing her hand on the angry sniper's shoulder slowly moving her away from Jack before she was about to try to hurt him.

"How can I possibly be a witch?! I had no idea the staff would do something like that! I don't have magic, I'm not a witch!" Jack shouted looking between all of them. "And if I were I would be a warlock, not a witch." He muttered mostly to himself then the others.

"It's a gift from Toothiana…" Hiccup said giving away a chuckle. "They always have strange abilities. Just look at this." Hiccup threw down the compass and Jack caught it in a confused sound opening it and looked at the arrow that spun around uncontrolled sometimes stopping before continuing its wild spinning.

"It's broken?" Jack said giving Hiccup a confused glance. Hiccup walked down the stairs towards him.

"It's not; it points to what you want." He said; Jack looked at him even more confused than before. Hiccup chuckled "Think of something, how about… hmm… that barrel over there." He said. Jack looked down at the compass again. "Or something you want dearly."

"I have no idea what you're trying to… say…" Jack said, but as he started talking did the arrow a spin before it stopped and pointed right at Hiccup, the captain walked a bit, to be able to see the arrow, but as he did the arrow moved, not standing still, but following the captain's movements. Jack felt his cheeks start to heat up. He slammed the compass close before giving it back to Hiccup. "What I want can't be found with that." He said kicking up the staff with his toes and walked away. Hiccup looked after him, scratching his neck. Holding the compass in his hand, he opened it and sighed. The needle moved a bit before it pointed towards Jack. Hiccup blinked before he closed it.  
Stupid arrow...

Jack sat down on a barrel with the staff in his hands, observing how it glowed and how the frost that appeared on it where he held it, moved as he moved his hands. Even if the air showed it was cold, he didn't feel any difference; it had the same temperature as the deck.

Nicholas was down in the galley preparing food, with some help from Rapunzel, Hiccup stood at the helm now and then looking down at the compass that he held in his hand, he didn't look at a map, and that made Jack curious, where did the captain want to go?  
Toothless yawned big there he lay on the deck, next to the barrel; the panther lied snoozing in the warmth of the sun, while Jack sat in the shadow the sail made. Pascal also lay there, nuzzled in the black fur of the panther, the cold-blooded chameleon needed to recharge now and then too.  
Merida was sitting with her back against the wall to the cabin with sticks and feathers sprawled out around her, as she made new arrows for her bow, even if she knew how to use guns, she preferred the old bow and arrow she'd gotten as a birthday present from her father. She hummed now and then, and Eugene sat up in the crow's nest whistling random tunes, the man wasn't a fan of singing, but he had the sense of good tunes to mix.

A loud boom made the entire ship jolt, and smoke bloomed out from the small room at the front of the ship; Aster's workroom; where the man made his egg bombs and other explosives. The door opened and a big plume of black smoke escaped up to the sky, before an irritated and soot covered Pooka came walking out, hunched forward coughing like mad, to get the smoke out from his lunges. He wafted with his hand and a small river of tears ran down his cheeks from his watering eyes.

"Aster… what happened?" Hiccup asked in a shocked tone, the Pooka never made mistakes like these. Aster coughed again before he started to brush the soot of his pants.

"Nothing, yest trying a new mixture..." he muttered out in reply. Aster raised one eyebrow at Jack, Toothless and Pascal who just stared at him as if he was crazy. "What's with those looks?" he asked crossing his arms over his now _black_ chest. Toothless and Pascal answered in mutters and small growls before they looked away to try and sleep again, when they knew nothing was wrong.

"You're black as coal…" Jack said slowly.

"Ye got a problem with my skin tone, mate?" The Pooka bit back, glaring at the boy.

"No. I didn't mean it like that, you're _black_ as coal." Jack said again more pressure under the one word he wanted to point out, before he gestured at Aster, who for the first time looked down at himself. Jack was right. He was completely powdered in soot; his usually chocolate coloured skin and blue-greyish hair was now black as the night, making him look like a piece of charcoal.

The door to the Galley opened and golden locks become visible.

"Dinner's about read- ASTER WHAT HAVE YOU **DONE**?" Rapunzel shrieked out in shock, when she saw the soot covered Pooka. Aster sighed but before he could answer a splash of water was thrown over him. He forced a gust of breath out thru his lips that he held pressed against each other, making a spray of small dirty droplets fly away, he had grown stiff when the cold sea water hit him, eyes squeezed shut. The soot slowly ran of him as the water dripped to the deck, leaving a black pool of water around him.

"Should I have given ya a warning first?" Merida asked there she stood with a big cauldron that had been filled with water. She grinned as Aster moved his hands to stroke away the dirt and water from his eyes.

Rapunzel shoved a cloth into his chest and he took it and started to wipe himself dry; starting with his face then his hair, he looked down on the cloth and it was completely black, soot colouring it.

The night was humid, and chilly, a northern wind blew over the waters. Rapunzel shivered there she walked around the ship, she was on ship watch. But it was something in the air she didn't like, an evil presence that she couldn't point out where it come from, the moon was hidden behind dark clouds, the only light that existed were some lanterns. She shivered for e short moment, changing her grip of the frying pan she was holding, in her bend she had a sword, but also a gun, but she preferred the pan. The feeling something was wrong didn't leave, she shivered when a cold wind blew over the ship.

"What is it..?" he asked to herself walking back towards the back of the ship, the feeling only grew stronger. The shadows grew darker and in a whips of air the lanterns was blown out and she stopped walking scanning the now completely shadow drenched ship in front of her. She slowly moved her and to her pan, her body growing cold. "Okay... maybe it was just the wind..." Rapunzel looked around before she slowly started to walk again. But she stopped sharp when she saw how the shadows seemed to move. She swallowed as she moved closer. She unsheathed her sword and pointed it towards the shadows. Two yellow eyes opened and glared at her with such hatred that she stumbled backwards. Then she heard how the door to the cabin opened and closed. Shit! She thought and struggled to get to her feet, her legs not listening to her.

Hiccup slept peacefully there he slept on his side. The darkness in the room grew thicker and Jack curled together, eyes moving uneasy under his eyelids. A mumble left his lips and he moved a bit, a silent chuckle come from the shadows, his eyes fluttering a bit a faith yellow glow was starting to creep into them. He rolled over one hand moving to his back his other hand gripped the pillow hard. Hiccup gave away a sound as he rolled to his back.  
Jack sat up slowly the blanket falling to his lap, his eyes opened slowly and the yellow glow dimmed his eyes. He reached out over Hiccup towards the nightstand where he knew the knife; he'd grabbed the first time, was placed in one of the boxes. Hiccup gave away a mumbled under him, slowly waking up by the changes the mattress made by Jack's movements. The knife felt cold against his touch, but he grabbed around it. Sitting down on Hiccup's legs and raised the arm ready to stab the knife down. His lips formed an evil grin, that wasn't his. He brought the arm back further, placing his other hand on Hiccup's chest.

Hiccup was brought back from the world of dreams by moments in the bed, but when he felt the weight on another body on his tights and chest he opened his eyes slowly, still sleepy, he mumbled out a questioning sound.

"Jack... something wrong?" he blinked to get the sleepiness out of his system, but froze right there when he saw the knife in Jack's hand, he saw it come down, and he was able to move his head out of the way, hearing how it tore down in the pillow. He stared at the knife. "Jack what are you doing-" he gave away a choking sound when Jack's hand that had been on his chest grabbed around his throat. He grimaced and first now looked at Jack's face and felt his blood freeze in his veins.

" **Hello there** ** _captain_** " Jack said, but it wasn't his voice it belonged to someone else. He saw how the shadows moved behind the pale brunette.

"Who- are you?!" Hiccup hissed out, casting a glance towards Toothless the panther lay on his pelt on the floor.

" **The cat won't bother us.** " Hiccup's eyes flashed back to Jack's face staring in shock, he couldn't have- " **I'm gracious that you and your puny crew took care of** ** _him_** **for me.** " A grin grew on Jack's face and the knife was lifted again. " **But even so, that end's now.** " Hiccup felt his cheek flare up in pain as the knife cut up a wound on it; he was able to escape the knife again, but not as good as before. The grip of his throat grew stronger. " **But my deer captain, stop making it harder for him and just let me kill you.** " Hiccup had been able to get a strong grip of the hand Jack held the knife in, keeping it at bay but he was at disadvantage; he knew that.

"I've got no plans on getting killed." He growled out grabbing hard around Jack's wrist to the hand he held around Hiccup's throat squeezing it so hard that Jack's hand opened. "I'll ask you again. Who are you and what have you done to Jack and Toothless." A cold laugh came out from Jack's lips.

" **You care for him?** " Jack put his body weight on his arms making Hiccup end up sinking deeper into the mattress. " **Don't waste your time on someone like him, he's not worth it. Your pet cat on the other hand, all I did was forcing him to stay asleep.** "

A loud gong sound echoed thru the room. Hiccup blinked in shock when he saw how the yellow flashed out from Jack's eyes and he collapsed, landing on top of Hiccup. Where his head had been moments earlier a frying pan was instead, belonging to Rapunzel who looked at them with worried eyes as she panted for air.

"You okay, Hiccup?" she asked lowering the pan.

"Rapunzel?" Hiccup stared at her in shock, before he sat up moving Jack to his side. "I'm fine... just confused, what happened?" He pulled the blanket up over Jack's shoulders stroking some of the brown hair away from his face.

Pitch hissed in pain and anger, as the connection he had with _him_ was broken. He moved one hand to his head growling as he glared out over the ocean towards the place he knew the Night Fury was sailing. A dark chuckle left his lips as he grinned.

"This will be interesting." His sharp teeth glimmered in the light of the green lanterns that shone on the dark ship. "Get ready Jack. I'm coming for you~"

Hiccup sat in the bed, arms crossed over his chest, Rapunzel had taken care of the scar on his cheek and was currently sitting on the bed as well.

"Mind control?" Hiccup said raising one eyebrow.

"Yes." Rapunzel looked at him "Do you remember when he got that terrible nightmare?"

"Yeah, he ended up kicking Toothless out of the hammock."

"It was a light control then, I was able to snap him out of it. But I fear the one whose taking control is getting closer and that means it will be harder to bring him out of it."

"Grate, that makes me so much easier." Hiccup grunted. "I got a stranger out there who wants me dead." Rapunzel gave him a look.

"You and the rest of us all got prises on our heads."

"If he was after the prise on my head, he wouldn't have tried to make Jack kill me."

A groan came from Jack and he started to move a bit, placing a hand on his head.

"Ugh..." he mumbled out sitting up slowly, Hiccup, Rapunzel and Toothless looked at him. "Um... what are you all looking at?" Jack asked when he saw them, but his eyes landed on the light bruises around Hiccup's throat and the cut on his cheek, and he stiffened. Without saying anything he scrambled out from the bed and tumbled for the door.

"Jack!" Hiccup called out he got out from the bed and fastened the prosthetic to his leg in haste, before he chased after him. "Wait!"

Jack ran out on deck eyes flashing around, they had gotten close to an island and big towering of rocks shot up from the water as faint mist floated around. The sky was growing lighter in the east. He heard the door open and Hiccup stumbling out as he tried to get the prosthetic in place. A cold wind then blew over the ship and Jack's head snapped to the side, as he ran up to the railing staring out, even if you couldn't see his face, you could see the fear running over him. Hiccup started to walk towards him. Rapunzel and Toothless stopped at the door to the cabin.

"Jack..." Jack spun around to face him.

"Sorry!" he cried out he was trembling, but not because of the cold, but because of the fear. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen-"

"Jack?" Hiccup gave him a worried look. Jack swallowed hard before he turned his head away slowly turning around grabbing his arms.

"I... it's..." he felt his eyes heat up, as tears started to form in them.

"Jack... what is it you're not telling me?" Jack forced his teeth together. A shaky breath left his nose.

"Sorry…" he started but became unable to talk when he felt Hiccup warp his arms around him.

"You're were mind controlled, Jack. It wasn't your fault, and I'm fine, so don't blame yourself for this okay." Jack had to bite his lower lip to not start to cry, but the tears still streamed down his cheeks. Hiccup sighed and smiled as he turned Jack around. "Hey now…" he said stroking some of the tears away, before hugging him tightly.

Rapunzel sighed and looked at the two with a warm smile on her lips. Toothless gave away a sound that seemed like a chuckle.

"They will be fine." She said still smiling.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Hiccup... you can let go of me now..." Jack mumbled out into Hiccup's shoulder. A chuckle left the man and he released his hold of Jack a bit so that he could see the boy's face, his eyes were a bit pink because of the tears he had cried earlier, but also from tiredness. Hiccup didn't notice the smile that grew on his lips. Toothless walked over to them and stroke himself against Hiccup's leg giving away a purring sound.

The door to the galley opened up. "Oh you already awake." Nicholas voice said the two turned around, the big man blinked "Ho? Did I interrupt moment?" Jack felt how his face flared up in a bright blush and he quickly squirmed out of Hiccup's hold Hiccup gave away a chough and a strangled noise as his cheeks turned to a light hint of red. Nicholas looked at Rapunzel who gave him a barely noticeable nod and smile.

"Good morning Nicholas." Rapunzel said "do you need help with preparing breakfast?"

"Ah... no, it not needed." Nicholas smiled at her "when we reach harbour?" he asked.

"Somewhere around noon." She said looking out over the waters and the pillars of rock that entered, but the current in the water that pulled them forward along with the wind kept them away from risks of collision.

"We're we going?" Jack asked.

"It's a small town, doesn't get so many visitors because of the cold weather and the hard terrain in the water unless you know the currents." Rapunzel answered, before she looked at Hiccup. "What are you going to do?" he gave away a groan.

"What?" Jack looked confused between them; Nicholas walked up behind him and patted his shoulder and smiled.

"We are going to Berk: Hiccup's home." Jack looked up at Nicholas first, before he looked at Hiccup who had moved to the railing.

"Berk, really?" he said giving away a laugh at the name.

"Berk, it lies twelve days north of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death, It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery." Hiccup started "It snows nine months of the year, and hails the other three. Any food that grows here is tough and tasteless." Hiccup said sighing as the tall island become visible behind a rock pillar; he made a gesture to it with his left hand. Jack walked up to the railing to see the island better; two big statues with fire burning in their mouths greeted them, as the Night Fury slowly moved towards the island

The sun shone down over them, but the warmth that it had given them before was lesser and it's light not as strong.

Jack yawned as he walked out from the Galley, Nicholas had made sure they were all full before he put away the food that was left, Jack moved a hand to his belly, it was a rarity that he was able to prop himself full of delicious food, but from the way Nicholas had smiled at him when he taken that last piece of bread, he knew he was to expect it more often.

He looked up to see how Hiccup stood in the front of the ship face turned towards the island that had grown as the ship got closer to the shore. Toothless sat next to him; Jack heard how they talked among each other; how Hiccup was able to understand the panther he never knows. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again.

"Jack." He looked up to find Rapunzel looking at him. "Can I speak with you for a moment?" Jack nodded and walked up the stair to where she stood next to the helm.

"What is it?" he asked, she looked him over before a sigh left her lips and a weak smile grew on them.

"I just wanted to make sure you were fine." She looked at him and smiled. "After last night I mean." Jack opened his mouth but before he could even say anything Rapunzel held up her hand for him to stop. "If you plan on apologizing I don't want to hear it." She gave him a steady look; Jack closed his mouth again before he sighed tiredly and then looked back up at her.

"I'm fine… a bit tired that's all…" he let his eyes travel towards Hiccup "How's Hiccup..?" he hugged around himself "I nearly _choked_ and stabbed him to _death_ …" Rapunzel placed her hand on his shoulder tilting her head to look at his eyes.

"Jack…" she then sighed "He's fine. He was able to dodge your attack. Why don't you go and ask him yourself?" Jack blinked staring at her, before he opened his mouth but only incoherent sound left his lips. Rapunzel's smile grew bigger. "Go on, he won't bite." She started to shove him before her down the stairs towards Hiccup and Toothless.  
After a while she shoved him forwards harder, sending him tumbling up next to the panther and captain, having to grab the railing not to fall to the deck; he snapped his head around glaring at her, she just laughed before she gave him a thumb up and a big grin.

"Jack?" Hiccup asked in a confused voice. "What are you doing?"

Hiccup gave away a deep irritated groan; Toothless looked up at him, giving away a worried whine.

"Don't worry bud; I'm fine, just not in the mood for what's to come." Hiccup said, placing his hand on the head of the panther that in return nuzzled into the friendly touch.

Toothless ears perked and he turned his head around to see how Rapunzel was shoving Jack towards them, what was the doctor trying to do? After a short time she shoved Jack harder, making him tumble towards them, Toothless looked at him in confusion, but also a well-hidden worry.  
Jack got a strong grip of the railing that stopped his stumbling but also helped him stay on his feet. He glared back at Rapunzel who just laughed at him.  
Hiccup looked at him in shock at first, but then confusion as he looked back to Rapunzel who just smiled innocently at him, as if nothing was wrong at all, he gave her a sceptic glance before he looked back to Jack, confused again.

"Jack." he asked "What are you doing?" Jack got his feet back under himself as he stood up

"Nothing…" he muttered out "Just getting _shoved_ around..." he looked out over the island that had grown dramatically since last time he'd seen it. "Whoa…" the sound left him before he was able to react.

"I can't say it's breath-taking, but it's a nice view." Toothless looked between the two as he walked up behind Jack and buffed him a bit. Jack looked down at him in confusion.

"What..?" he asked, looking into the panthers grass green eyes, Toothless gave away a sound before he buffed Jack harder making him loose balance, and he would have fallen to the deck if Hiccup hadn't caught him in his arms.

"Toothless!" Hiccup said confusion filling his voice. "Why did you do that?" the panther gave him a knowing look and a smug grin. Hiccup felt his cheek turn warm. This little bundle of fur knew!  
And then he remembered Jack who hadn't moved a muscle. "Uh… Jack, you uh okay?"

What was he to do? He hadn't expected the panther to make him loose balance, nor had he thought he end up in Hiccup's embrace again!  
The way Hiccup's cloak broke of his vision with the red fabric making it dark, but jet cosy, and the soft fabric of his shirt against his cheek… and that sent, along with the calming sound of his heartbeat, that slowly grew louder, but were drowned in the bas sound as he spoke to Toothless, Jack couldn't concentrate. Then he heard Hiccup say his name and his brain connected to his body again, he showed himself free tumbling back some steps nearly falling over Toothless if Hiccup hadn't taken a grip of his failing arm dragging him back to his feet.

"Jack?!" he heard Hiccup said in worry.

"I'm fine!" Jack didn't know where to go, so he ended up not moving "I'm perfectly fine! Finer than fine." What was he saying?! This made absolutely no sense at ALL!

"Jack! Hey!" Hiccup tried to calm the embarrassed hyperventilating teen down; but it was harder than he thought. "Jack, will you just-" he had tried to get a hold of Jack's shoulder, but Jack had suddenly gotten a wobbly connection to his legs. Toothless looked between he two and tried his best to stay out of the way, giving away worried growls and whines. Hiccup got a grip of Jack's wrist. "Just- hold still." He said. Once he had gotten Jack's eyes locked on his he let go of Jack's wrist. "Breath… okay?" Hiccup said as he motioned for Jack to follow, breath in, hold; breath out, hold, repeat… after a while Jack started to calm, but his cheeks and ears were still bright red. "You calmed down now?" Jack gave a slow nod in reply.

The Night Fury docked against the harbour at the bottom of the island, Jack just stared up the steep mountain walls, along them balconies and walkways made of wood went down to where they currently was.

"Home _sweet_ home…" Hiccup muttered sarcastically as he walked down to the pier, from the gangway. Jack gave him a confused look; there he stood next to Eugene and Merida who were discussing something fiery.

"What? You're home aren't you supposed to be happy?" Jack asked

"Oh I'm glad I'm home, it's what's coming I don't like."

"What's coming?"

"Oh you will know in, five… four… three… two… on-"

" _HICCUP!_ " a voice boomed out over the pier and harbour, Hiccup winched as he let his hand he'd been showing the fingers he counted with, fall to his side.

A tall big man with red hair and beard moved towards them in hurried steps, after him a not so tall but still big man jogged as good as he could with a prosthetic wooden leg. Jack just stared at the man, he was intimidating with that Viking helmet on his head, and that look in his eyes.

"Hello to you too, dad."


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Hello to you too, dad." Hiccup said turning to the big red-haired man, white hairs was in the beard showing that he was old. Jack blinked staring between Hiccup and the man, yes now when he knew he could see the similarities in their features, but if he didn't know he'd never notice.

"Wait… dad?" Jack looked at Hiccup, before he gestured to the man " _This_ is your dad!?" the big man looked at him and raised one eyebrow before he looked at Hiccup

"Who's this, son?" the man asked. Hiccup looked at Jack and then back to his father.

"Jack, this is my father, the chief, Stoic the Vast." Hiccup said. "Dad, this is Jack, we saved him from a shipwreck and he's stayed with us."

"Wait, chief? Doesn't that make you-?" Jack stared at him

"No." Hiccup said looking at Jack and then looked at Stoic who just were about to start to talk "Before you even start, no." Stoic got an irritated look in his eyes.

"Hiccup, I'm old, I won't be here forever, you need to get to your senses and return back home and take over for me."

"Dad, we have had this conversation already." Hiccup said "Yes this is where I was born, but the Night Fury is my home. The ocean! Not this rock." Hiccup gestured with his hands towards the island. "How many times do I have to tell you?"

Nicholas walked up from the Galley and towards the gangway. Where Rapunzel and Aster currently stood, Nicholas heard the discussion between Hiccup and his father before he saw them. A tired sigh left his lips.

"Going with it again?" he asked.

"Ay, Stoic is stoic." Aster replied.

"Jack looks so confused." Rapunzel said giving away a chuckle.

"Oh? He's there?" Nicholas first now noticed the teen. He smiled and walked down the gangway, and walked up to them.

"Hiccup. Sorry for braking discussion, but can I borrow Jack for moment?" he asked. Hiccup turned his head to look at him; Jack looked confused up at Nicholas.

"Yes, yes." Hiccup replied before he looked back at Stoic. Nicholas placed his big hand on Jack's back and pushed him along.

"Come on Jack." Nicholas said as the discussion between Hiccup and Stoic got louder.

"None of you ever told me he was the son of the chief."

"You did not ask and Hiccup don't want to be chief." Nicholas said

"What why?"

"He likes to be free."

The Vikings looked at them with interesting eyes, after all it wasn't often they went to Berk. They walked towards the forge; Jack followed Nicholas, but sometimes had to run to catch up with him.

"Where are we going?"

"We are to refill the pantry, and get stuff Aster asked for." Nicholas said giving Jack a smile. They stopped at an open window. Nicholas looked inside.

"Gobber!?" he called out, it didn't take long before a drowsy man come walking, he wore a red dirty shirt, but it had taken a volume to the darker from the soot, brown-red hair that hadn't been brushed for ages and was filed with knots and dirt covered the man's head, he yawned big scratching his stomach. "Oh Grump, good to see you awake." Nicholas said but only got a tired mutter in reply. "Is Gobber in?" Grump looked up at him placing his arms on the windowsill and crossed them.

"No... 'e left with the chief." Was a slow reply, Grump then saw Jack. "Who's this?" he pointed at Jack who opened his mouth to reply but was cut off when Grump continued. "Ye never told me ye had a son." Nicholas gave away a loud laughter holding his stomach.

"This is Jack, he is not my son, but good as one is he." Grump gave away a tired sound but he smiled.

"AH! Grump ye lazy sleep-bag I told ya to keep the fire alive!" a voice suddenly called behind them, and the man Jack had seen jog after Stoic come walking towards them, Jack first now noticed the prosthetic hand the man had.

"It's alive… it's still warm." Grump replied tiredly. Gobber walked inside the forge and stirred the coal till a flame flared up after that he pushed down the blow and more flames appeared over the coal. Gobber turned around and looked at them.

"Keep the fire alive now." He said giving Grump a light shove with his flesh hand. A mutter left the other man. "Nicholas it's been a while." He then said turning to them. "What is it I can get ya this time?" Nicholas took out a piece of paper.

"Aster is asking for this." He gave Gobber the paper; the man looked at it moving his fingers over his blond moustache as he hummed.

"Hmm… I can get ye these, but it will take a while, not entirely sure where I put them." Gobber cast Jack a glance. "Who's the kid?" he looked at Nicholas

"This is Jack."

"Oh, so this's the kid Hiccup talk about earlier." Gobber looked at Jack with interested eyes, making Jack move a bit uncomfortable under the man's blue gaze. "If he'd 'ave blue eyes I'd call him ye're son, but with those different colours it's hard to tell which one he's gotten from 'is father."

"Are we really that much alike?" Nicholas asked looked at Jack with a bemused look Jack just shrugged in confusion.

"Don't ask me."

"If we add some flesh to 'im he'd looks a lot like ya did back in the years." Gobber said making Nicholas laugh loudly

"Maybe you right, you give us the mixtures and salts later, no?" Nicholas said as he started to walk, Jack followed.

"Yeah, I will come and give them to ya before ye leave for the oceans!" Gobber called out after them.

Jack looked at Nicholas with scanning eyes; did Nicholas really look like my father? He scratched the side of his head as he thought about it.

"Jack, we are to get food, anything you like?" Nicholas asked not turning his head.

"Anything that's not water and dry bread works for me…" he halted, his reply left his mouth before he had time to think. Nicholas turned his head around to give him a confused glance.

"What..?" was that the reason why Jack was so thin? What kind of parent gave their kids only dry bread and water?

"I- I mean, I'm not picky with food, so whatever you make works for me." Jack said giving him a smile and waved his hands, but Nicholas worry was still visible in his blue eyes.

They were currently carrying the big packages of food; Jack carried three bags with root crops, having some smaller issues with his sight in front of him, Nicholas carried the rest, two big containers over his shoulders and two bags in his hands.

"Um… if you don't mind me asking… how long are we going to stay here?" Jack asked.

"It depends on Hiccup, but usually one night." Nicholas replied. They had gotten to the pier; Rapunzel was at the ship, helping Aster and Eugene to secure the sails, so that if a strong wind came they wouldn't catch it and lead the ship wrong.

"Oh, Back already?" she called out climbing down to greet them afters she finished the knot.

"Yes, ship fine?" Nicholas asked.

"Yeah, the sails have been secured and so has everything else." Eugene said, before he walked up to Jack "I can take this." He said as he took one of the bags with roots. Jack gave him an appreciating grunt.

"So, how long they argue?"

"About ten minutes, before Valka came and… well it replied as usual." Aster sighed, opening the galley door for Eugene, and then took the remaining bags from Jack who gave away a surprised sound, stopping when he didn't have anything to carry down to the pantry, but he was still shocked, something Rapunzel noticed.

"What's wrong?" Jack blinked looking at her.

"What? No, nothing's wrong." He said giving her a fast smile, but she noticed the confusion he still had, but wouldn't voice them out, they stood there alone for a while, before Jack looked at her. "Say… tonight are we going to sleep in the ship or in one of the houses..?"

"Oh, I'm glad you asked when we're on Berk, we sleep on the ship and Hiccup and Toothless sleep in their home."

"Oh..." Jack mumbled out looking away.

"Jack? If there's something troubling you just tell me or Hiccup okay?" Jack exhaled loudly before he placed both hands on his head.

"I- I just…" he cast a glance at Rapunzel who looked at him with a bit of worry in her green eyes. "It's… I don't want to have _that_ happening again…" Rapunzel understood.

"Jack, don't worry about it. It if happens again I will just knock you out with this." he made a swirl with her frying pan. Jack gave away a strangled laugh before he gave her a deep smile.

"Thank you…" she was taken aback by the way his eyes looked, and the truth that rang over his words: he looked like a wet and hungry dog who had been allowed inside to a bowl of food and a warm home.  
Jack walked towards the front of the ship and Rapunzel stared at him, just _who_ was he?

Hiccup sighed heavily as the door to his home closed behind him.  
Why was it so hard for his father to understand that he dint want to be chief. Skullcrusher suited better at that role than him, after all; he was both strong and smart, and with an extraordinary sense of directions and smell, he himself, well he could invent things, he was good at coming up with ideas to make situations better despite how bad they were. He wasn't suited as a chief! Hiccup groaned loudly and stopped at the beginning of the wooden gangway down to the harbour. He looked down at the ship, the Night Fury swayed still there she lay, the red sail secured and he saw how someone walked around and lit the lanterns. He sat down and let his leg dingle out over the edge, what did he have to do to make his father understand? A friendly and worried growl come behind him, making him turn around, Toothless stood there tilting his head to the side, before he moved closer laying down next to Hiccup placing his head on Hiccup's leg giving away a worried sound.

"Don't worry bud. How about we go and get the others?" Toothless nodded and stood up.

The two walked down towards the ship, a howl then suddenly made Toothless ears perk and he gave away a chirp and looked around, Hiccup had stopped as well, but knew who the howl belonged to, he just smiled.

"Toothless." He said; the panther looked up at him giving away a whine. "What are you waiting for? Cloudjumper is waiting." He smiled and Toothless gave him a big toothy smile before he dashed back up for the wood, Hiccup saw how the big light brown liger, with darker brown stripes, stood there, Toothless buffed his head against the tigers and they exchanged some growls and sounds before they walked out of Hiccup's view. It had taken a while at first for Toothless to get the older animal's acceptance, but in the end they had become like brothers, even if they were different spices.

Hiccup opened the door to the Galley where he found the others. Someone had said something that had made Nicholas laugh.

"I see you have a good time." Hiccup said.

"Ah! Hiccup!" Nicholas called out. "What Stoic say this time?"

"The usual…" Hiccup sat down at the table.

"And where's Toothless now? Is he outside?"

"No, He's with Cloudjumper."

"Cloud… who?" Jack asked there he sat holding a cup of hot chocolate, Nicholas made, in his hands

"It's not easy for you to know, Jack." Rapunzel said and smiled. "Cloudjumper is a liger; I think you will meet him tomorrow, along with the others."

"Yeah, dad thought of the perfect thing, we are all to gather in the great hall tomorrow for a feast." Both Aster and Eugene gave away a happy sound, Rapunzel's eyes snapped to them and she pointed at them with a strict finger.

"If I find you too drunk to be able to walk I **will** leave you in the **pinfold** of the sheep and yaks." You could basically see the colour drain from their faces.

"Now, now Rapunzel, you did that last time… and you know how much the ship smelled afterwards, you **don't** want to go thru that again…" Eugene's voice grew silent under Rapunzel's glare that told both of them very well that she would do it _again_.

"She warned ya last 'ime." Merida said grinning.

"Yes she did." Nicholas and Hiccup said nodding.

"Ah Fine!" Eugene shouted giving in; Aster just grunted some unhappy sounds.

Jack lied alone in the cabin bed, it felt strange to not have Hiccup's warmth so close by, neither the sound of his and Toothless breathing. He rolled to his side looking out in the room. He first now remembered that he'd seen Hiccup doodle or sketch in that drawing block. Where did he have it? Jack lit the lantern that stood on the nightstand; it was built so that even if the ship moved the light would stand still. Jack opened the drawer and looked inside. He found the block with its light yellow pages, even coal pens and other small things in it. He sat down with the block in his lap, did he dare to look? He hesitated for a moment before he opened it. The first page was just some scrabbles and doodles on Toothless prosthetic leg, the second page had them also. Flowers; landscape from the view of the ship, the ship, the crew and many other things were sketched in it, Jack kept looking but stopped abruptly at one page. He just stared at it. This page were full of sketches of him… he changed page and he were there again. How? When had Hiccup been doing these?! He turned one more page but found it empty. He closed the block again blinking and just spacing out into the room. A smiled crept onto his lips and a snort left him before he put the block back. He blew out the lantern and let himself fall down in the bed; landing between the two pillows, he turned his head to the one that Hiccup usually used, it smelled like him, but he found himself wondering when Rapunzel had fixed it, he found the place where she'd sewn the tear together again trailing his fingers along it, but still sleep would not bring him any rest tonight. He sat up giving away a annoyed sigh before he left the cabin, maybe some fresh air would make him tired, he walked over to the railing crossing his arms on it and just looking out over the black waters as the stars glittered in the sky, his air puffed in front of him in the chilly air, not that it really bothered him.

Hiccup stared up in the ceiling arms crossed behind his head. Toothless were already asleep, and so were the others. But for some reason he just couldn't sleep. He rolled to his side finding the dragon doll his mother made for him when he was small, he sat up and held it in his hands, it's was poorly made and the seams were starting to break. Maybe would ask Rapunzel to fix it…  
Hiccup put it back before he looked towards Toothless, the panther sleep peacefully and deeper than usual, Hiccup swung his leg over the side of the bed and fastened his prosthetics to the stump of leg he still had left under his knee. He stood up walking over to Toothless.

"I'm only going out for a while, don't worry." He whispered Toothless ears perked a bit but no other reaction came from the sleeping panther, Hiccup stood up again and walked down the stairs as silent as he could, just before he was to open the door he heard a sound from Cloudjumper who slept at the fireplace. Hiccup turned around to see the liger look at him with his honey coloured eyes that reflected the glowing embers. Hiccup smiled at him when the liger laid his head down again and fell sleep. Hiccup opened the door and closed it silently behind him.  
The night air was a bit chilly but not bothersome, if he would have been younger he would have gone back inside for a thick pelt to cover himself.

The moon shone down over the isle and the stars glittered in the pitch black sky, some of the terrible terrors birds were still awake and hooted and shouted among themselves but were mostly silent at this hour. It was silent, only the wind that calmly blew through the grass and in the leaves in the trees, and the sound of the waves washing up on shore.

Hiccup sighed deeply and looked up in the sky, this was one of the many thing he loved about the night, and if he as out at sea without land in sight and the night was still it was like he was sailing thru space... another sigh left his lips turning to a puff of air that was blown away by the wind.

A wind blew from the harbour dragging a soft sound with it that made Hiccup blink and turn his head around. He looked down towards the ship and began to walk down. The closer he got to the Night Fury the more he heard of the sound. He walked up for the gangway and stopped when he saw how Jack stood at the railing looking up at the moon, his mouth moved and Hiccup felt how a smile grew on his lips.

"…Fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars… let me see what spring is like, on Jupiter and Mars…" he lowered his head breathing out heavily, creating a big cloud of smoke that the wind blew away.

"You're full of surprises." Hiccup said and clapped his hands lightly. Jack jolted and turned around, not expecting him to be there.

"Wha- what are you doing here?" he stammered out maybe a bit more pitched then he would have liked.

"The wind carried that song you sang with it, and I couldn't sleep."

"…I wouldn't really call that singing…" Jack mumbled out brushing his hand thru his brown locks.

"What are you saying? You are better than most I know." Hiccup said; Jack gave away a laugh.

"No, no…" he sighed looking away. Missing how Hiccup gave him a sad smile. A yawn left his lips and he stretched his arms up over his head.

"The hour's late, try to get some sleep…" he said before he turned around and stopped at the gangway. "You do have a beautiful voice…" he felt Jack's eyes flash to him as he quickly walked back towards his home.

Everyone on Berk had gathered in the great hall, even the pets were inside.

Eugene, Aster Jack and Rapunzel sat at one of the tables while the rest of the crew were and talked to the town's people. She was keeping an eye on the two older men, but also on Jack. Aster and Eugene drank big jugs of ale, while Jack sat there with a cup of chocolate Nicholas made for him, after he had tried some of Aster's ale, but had after the first sip and the smell of it said a clear no along with incoherent sounds of disgust and shoved the jug back to the tanned man who just laughed at him calling him a child.

"I've rather be a child then a kangaroo." Jack spat back casting a glare at Aster, Eugene snorted nearly getting ale stuck in his throat.

"What did ye call me?" Aster said putting the jug back to the table. "I am **not** a kangaroo, mate." He glared at Jack, who took up the challenge.

"And this whole time I thought you were…" Rapunzel looked worriedly between them, wondering if she were to stop them before they crossed the line. Jack looked Aster up and down "If you're not a kangaroo then _what_ are you?" Aster didn't back down he leaned closer a growl in the back of his throat.

"I'm a Pooka, and if ya got a problem with tha' I can throw ya back into the water, where ye came from."

"Guys, please, don't fight." Rapunzel said placing her hands on their shoulders. The two sat down again.

"My friends!" a voice suddenly called out, Jack looked up to see how Stoic stood with his arms out and looking at all of them and smiling. "Let's thanks the gods for bringing my son back home alive." Stoic said and placed his hand on Hiccups shoulder; he gave his dad a slight glare but smiled a bit at the town's people, but he knew it was coming. "So now Hiccup, stay and be the chief of Berk, who you were born to be." And there it was.  
A woman shook her head in a sigh making her brown hair that was gathered in a braid at the back of her head wobble, she wore a green tunic and a red belt under it a shirt made from yak skin went down over one of her legs, where a pair of brown pants took over and become one in a pair of brown boots. She had green eyes and a beautiful face, next to her a man stood, a bout Hiccup's size but more muscular, he wore a light green tunica as well, but red hair covered his head instead, it was gathered in a ponytail at his neck, over his tunica he wore a darker green vest that went over a brown belt, dark green pants that nearly were black went over his legs and ended into a pair of brown boots. He had grey eyes but despite his strict look he gave away a calming aura. Jack eyed the two before he cast a glance towards Rapunzel to see if she still were there, before he gave her a buff with his elbow. She gave away a questioning sound looking at him.

"Rapunzel… who are those two?" he pointed discreetly at the woman and man.

"Oh, that's Valka; Hiccups mother, and that's Skullcrusher; the one Hiccup want to be chief of Berk instead."

"I've wanted to ask this before… but… why doesn't Hiccup want to be chief?"

"He wants to be free." Nicholas said and sat down with them. Jack gave him a tangled look.

"What?" Jack looked back towards Hiccup. Stoic were still talking, but Jack didn't really care to listen about what he said, and what did Nicholas mean about Hiccup wanting to be free? He looked back at the big man who had given him a scanning look. "What do you mean about wanting to be free? It's not like he's forced to stay… _right_?" Nicholas smiled.

"Well. Stoic want Hiccup to stay and be chief. Hiccup want to travel world on Night Fury, he don't want to be chief."

"Oh." Jack relaxed, not realising he had stiffened. A friendly growl then was heard behind them, and they turned around to see how Toothless come walking followed by a big liger. Jack stiffened again, the liger where about the same size as a mountain lion, he knew far too well. Toothless gave him a confused look sensing the fear that was starting to drip from the boy.

"Jack, this is Cloudjumper, who we talked about yesterday." Rapunzel said reaching out to pet the big cat who gave away a purr in return. "He's a friendly soul, but just like Toothless you have to win his trust." Cloudjumper turned to Jack, their eyes met and jack found that he was unable to look away. On pure instinct he slowly reached his hand out towards the liger, the animal looked at his hand for a short moment before looking up at Jack again who had forced his eyes shut, Cloudjumper leaned into the touch, Jack flinched slightly and opened his eyes, he heard how the others gasped in awe.

"He trusted you, just like that?" Eugene asked in shock. "It took me three days before that animal would even look at me."

"Maybe Toothless told him about ya." Aster said. Cloudjumper pulled back before he walked away towards Valka. Toothless stayed giving Jack a big toothy smile and he even stuck out his tongue, giving away a sound that sounded like laughter.

"Just what did you say about me?" Jack asked giving the panther a scanning look. Toothless only smiled wider.

Hiccup come up to them.

"How are things playing out?" Rapunzel asked smiling at him.

"Well…" Hiccup said giving away a sigh. "Dad's still not happy."

"Hiccup." Valka come up behind him placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Mom?" He turned his head to look at her.

"Who's you're new friend?" she looked at Jack and smiled.

"This is Jack; we saved him form a shipwreck not so long ago." Valka smiled.

"Jack, it's a nice name when're you from?" Jack looked at her unsure if he were to tell her or not, but in the end decided to trust her.

"I'm from Burgess." Something in Valka's eyes changed but she kept smiling.

"Oh, I see…" she thought for a moment. "Where are your mother and father, at the moment?" all eyes were on Jack; who had gone stiff, and a darkness flashed over his eyes. He lowered his head his grip of the jug; that the chocolate were in, grew stronger, making his fingers turn white.

"I don't want to talk about it." He stood up. "Excuse me." He left the table and the half empty jug and walked towards the door and left the great hall. They all looked at each other in confusion.

"I seem to have stepped on a bad spot." Valka said sadly. "Go and talk to him." she gave Hiccup a light shove.

"Why do I have to talk to him?" he asked confused, Valka gave him a look.

"You're the captain, aren't you." She smiled at him "And he's currently a member of your ship, so he's under your protection." She started to walk towards Stoic and Skullcrusher who were discussing the future of Berk. "The captain protects his own, doesn't he?" she disappeared into the crowd. Hiccup sighed looking back to Rapunzel.

"I'll be back, keep an eye on those two okay." He pointed at Aster and Eugene, Rapunzel smiled and gave him a nod.

"Don't worry captain."

(If you want to hear Jack's singing look here: watch?v=mhA4a7MAqMQ)


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Jack closed the door to the great hall and sighed heavily and let himself fall against the wooden door, the night had grown late without him noticing, the time had just flown away, he cast a look back to the door before he started to walk back towards the harbour, but he looked back to the big door when he heard it open and close again.

"Jack!" he saw how Hiccup come walking towards him, Jack grunted irritated before he turned his back to Hiccup starting to walk again.

"Don't ask; I don't want to talk about it!" Jack shouted.

"Why? Is there something you don't want us to know or _what_?" Jack threw his arms up in the air in an annoyed shout and turned around.

"What is it in, 'I don't want to talk about it', is it you don't understand?" Hiccup gave him a shocked glare, before he sighed.

"Then I won't ask, just tell me why."

"By the moon, Hiccup!" Jack shouted. "I don't want to talk about, why I **don't** want to talk about it!" Jack started to walk away again.

"Jack, what is it you're so _afraid_ of?" Jack stopped in a step, before he spun around eyes flaring in anger.

"SHUT UP!" he shouted chest heaving as he glared at Hiccup who took a shocked step back, opening his mouth to speak but closed it again not finding words. "All of your problems are _nothing_ compare to mine! You want to be free?" Jack gestured to Hiccup. "You don't want to be chief? you want to be free? _Fuck that_!" he grabbed his brown hair, not sure what to do with his hands. "Despite how fast I run _they_ always catch up!" he placed his hands on his chest in a desperate gesture. "You seek freedom jet you've been free you're entire life!" he gestured to Hiccup who just stared at him; his mind calculating every word Jack said and how he said it, and to the conclusion he fell; made his blood turn cold.

" _What_ are you saying?!" Hiccup cried out staring at him, he needed to know… if it were _so_ … please gods make it be a mistake!

Jack groaned tiredly before he sank down heavily on a bench made from one big log; resting on two smaller ones, he placed his hands over his head. Hiccup moved closer, slowly, not sure if Jack even wanted him there for the moment.

"Jack… if you feel afraid about something, you can just tell me, I'm not one to judge people, no one on my ship are mush for it, well Merida perhaps, but she has her reasons… what is it you don't want us to know?" he gave Jack a worried look but quickly continued "But it's okay, you don't have to tell me, unless you feel like it." Jack shook his head and exhaled before he looked up.

"Sorry, but if I tell you… you will get tangled up in my problems… and I don't want you to be put in danger…" Hiccup gave him a slight glare and sighed before he laughed a dry laugh.

"The one who are mind controlling you, want to see me dead." He said. "And I don't even know this person's face." Hiccup looked out over the waters.

"Person?" Jack said in a dry laugh after a moment of silence. "He's not a person…" Hiccup gave him a worried look. "…he's a bloody nightmare... dressed in flesh and bone."

The sky was bright and the sun stood high. The Night Fury was getting ready to leave, even with two of the crewmembers sitting down in the galley groaning in pain, from their hangover.  
Nicholas sighed as he swatted both on the top of their heads.

"Stop complaining." He said not giving them any friendlier treatment. "If you not plan work, then go to bed!" he said turning around and starting to prepare dinner.

"Ugh… can't you give me some of Rapunzel's painkillers?" Eugene whined.

"No." Nicholas said sharply not turning around.

"Come one Nicholas!" both Aster and Eugene cried out. Nicholas gave away a dark laugh turning around, with a carrot and a knife in his hands.

"It your fault, you two drank way too much." He turned around again starting to chop the carrot to pieces "Now pay prize. Be glad Rapunzel stopped you before you two hit the floor." groans come from the two, mostly Eugene.  
The door to the galley opened up and Rapunzel walked down the stairs, she looked at them with a disappointed scowl on her face.

"I warned you two, be glad I didn't leave you in the pinfolds." She looked to Nicholas. "Do you need help with anything?" he looked over the things he had brought for dinner to the bench.

"If you bring more potatoes it be good." She nodded and walked down the remaining stairs after closing the galley door. She walked thru the galley to the pantry in the far end of the ship; she returned with a basket of potatoes and placed it on the bench. "Thank you, lass." He said and smiled, she smiled back before she turned her interest to the most pathetic crewmembers at the moment.

"Go to sleep, or go and help Merida and Jack take out the sails." She said.

"Rapunzel… painkillers…" Eugene whined looking at her with pleading eyes, giving her the smoulder at the same time. She just gave him a deadpanned look.

"No. but I can hit you with my pan to make you have something else to think about." He quickly sat up.

"No- no need for drastic measures!" he cried out. Rapunzel raised one eyebrow, before she slammed her hands against the table, making both of them jolt.

"Then **get up there** and help Merida and Jack get the sails ready so we can leave when Hiccup get here!" she shouted pointing at the door. "Or I will throw you overboard to wake you up!" Both Eugene and Aster got to their feet and in a hurry, only created from one of Rapunzel's threats; they stumbled out of the galley.

Jack and Merida had in one way or another manage to get the sail down without problem, even if it were supposed to be a job for four people.  
Both of them had climbed up the rat ropes and now sat on the yardarm, they had loosened both knots that held the lower yardarm at place when the sails were secured, and now sat holding it in their hands.

"Ya ready, wee lad?" Merida asked giving him a grin. Jack nodded. "Than on ma count of three." Merida said.

"One, two… THREE!" They both jumped down from the yardarm having a tight grip of the red sail, letting it open up. They landed on the deck with a thump, the sail making their jump have a lighter landing. They fastened the lower yardarm to the mainmast before they both clapped their hands together to get the dirt off.

"Good job, wee lad." Merida said holding up her hand for a high-five. Jack gave her a smile and lifted his hand and they hit them together "Ye aren't bad for ay witch." She said.

"Will you stop that?" Jack gave her a tired look. "I'm not a wizard, and I'm not a wee lad, I'm older than you."

"Until ye have proven that yer not a witch ay will not stop calling ye one, and only by one year ye prat." She crossed her arms over her chest. The door to the galley was slammed open and Eugene and Aster stumbled out. "Ye took yer sweet time to get here." Merida said in an annoyed tone.

"By the moon it's to bloody bright!" Aster groaned walking to the side placing a hand over his eyes. Merida and Jack shared a glance trying not to laugh.

"And you two have already gotten the sails out…" Eugene said letting himself fall back towards the wall next to the galley door.

"Of course, ya dimwit, neither Jack nor I drank alcohol to get a hangover from, and we didn't 'ave time to wait for you two drunkards. Learn already." Merida spat.

"Where's Hiccup?" Aster asked looking around.

"He's not here jet." Jack said looking up towards the island. "Why is it we get the ship prepared before he gets here?"

"Stoic tends to try and keep him here, often by a grip of the back of Hiccup's cloak collar." Eugene explained. "So we prepare the ship so we can leave right away once he and Toothless gets on-board."

"I see…" Jack mumbled out.

"Dad, will you for Thor's sake just listen to me for once!" Hiccup shouted as he packed down the few belongings he'd brought to his home form the ship in a bag. "I do not want to become chief." He walked down the stairs meeting his father who looked like he were about to start burning.

"You are my son!" He boomed. "You are the true chief of this island!" Hiccup groaned loudly.

"Here we go again… Dad for the hundredth time already- I DO NOT WANT TO BECOME CHIEF!" Hiccup let the bag fall to the floor next to Toothless who took a step back and sat down at the door. "Skullcrusher is better suited for it, I know you mean well dad, but I… this is my home yes, I was born and raised here, but this is at the same time not my home…" Hiccup made a gesture to himself "My heart and soul is home on the Night Fury, sailing the seven seas fighting other pirates or marines." He looked at his dad. "I don't belong with ground under my foot and the constant cycle of the seasons, I want action, I want adventures." Hiccup sighed. "Dad try to understand this is what I want. And if it's not good enough for you then… you can keep complaining, but I won't change my mind." Stoic grunted at a reply, and Hiccup could see he wasn't happy with the answer. Valka walked forward placing her hands on Stoic's shoulder

"Go on son, I bet they are waiting for you." She smiled.

"Bye mom…" Hiccup said and smiled at her, before he opened the door and walked outside. The air was calm and he saw how the Night Fury were ready to dock it only needed it's captain.

"Going out to the seas again, Hiccup?" a voice said making him turn around, Fishlegs and Snotlout stood there, next to Fishlegs his younger sister Meatlug stood, and Snotlout had his orange brown lizard on his shoulders.

"You know I will take good care of the village while you're gone." Snotlout said grinning.

"I'm sure you will." Hiccup said sarcastically "Just keep the two pair twins under control."

"Just give them something to blow up and they will be happy, we got lots of unnecessary things here." Hiccup gave Snotlout a glare.

"Do not let them blow things up. Not on Berk. They make enough trouble as it is." Hiccup looked at them with stern eyes before he made a gesture toward the harbour "I got a ship to catch…" Hiccup said and started to walk again but he turned his head to look at them. "Do NOT let the twins blow things up." He said before he left them.

He called out for Toothless to wait, the panther already stood at the pier waiting impatiently his tail twisting in irritation, humans were so slow!

"Yes, yes bud, I'm coming, I don't have four legs like you… I only got two, well… both of us am down on one... but anyway." He got to the panthers side, Toothless growled a reply before he stood up and they walked towards the Night Fury.

"You got here dramatically fast." Rapunzel said letting her arms rest on the railing as she looked down at Hiccup who made himself ready to walk up the gangway.

"Mom helped me to escape." He replied and once Toothless had gotten aboard he took in the gangway, he shifted the bag on his back to his other shoulder, as he started to walk towards his cabin. "Let's get going! Up with the anchor and let the winds take us wherever she wants!" Hiccup shouted, gesturing with his free hand before he opened the door to the cabin and put down the bag at the side of the door, before he made his way towards the helm. He took up his compass looking at it once the ship left the harbour, and turned the helm so that the ship moved in the right direction, the sails was hanging loose at first, but then the wind caught them and the sails bended outwards and the ship began to move.

Jack looked back towards the island, seeing how it grew smaller, but then a house blew up in smoke and flames with a loud boom. And he heard Hiccup give away a loud groan, letting his head fall to the helm. Merida and Aster laughed.

"I told them **not** to let the twins blow things up… I did… why do they not listen?" Jack heard Hiccup whine, even Toothless laughed at the plume of smoke that rose towards the sky,

"Berk; home to generations, but still buildings new." Nicholas said looking at Jack and smiled.

"How come? What made that explosion?"

"The Twins." Eugene said "Ruffnut and Tuffnut, Barf and Blech… Berk's four daredevils and they also love to create trouble and blow things up."

"Gah! It was even one of the storage houses!" He then heard Hiccup cry out and saw how the man stood with his hands on his head. "Why did they find the need to blow one of those up?!"


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

They had passed countless high pillars of rocks after they leaved Berk, Jack stood at the front of the ship; the wind blew him in the back making his brown locks flutter. A movement made him blink and he looked towards the pillars that were further up ahead.

"Merida..!" he called out she looked down at him from the Crow's nest.

"Ay?" she replied. "What is it wee lad?"

"I saw something by those rocks…" he said pointing in the direction. Merida followed his arm with her eyes out towards the pillars, she took up the binocular and watched the pillars, bet she couldn't see anything.

"Ye sure? I can't see anything, get up 'ere and show me." She called back. Jack sighed before he began to climb the rat ropes up to the crow's nest; Merida looked at him. "Now, where're it?" she gave him the binocular. Jack looked towards the pillars searching for what he had seen, but noting but the ordinary caught his eye.

"I must have seen a fish or animal, I can't see anything…" Jack mumbled out giving Merida the binocular again. He began to climb down when the shrieking sound of a cannonball sounded and the Night Fury jerked, Merida cried out when she saw how Jack lost his grip.

"Jack! Ye okay wee lad?" she got the edge of the nest and saw how Jack was clinging to the rat nett with his two hands, feet dangling towards the deck.

"I'm fine!" Jack called out as he moved so that he got his feet on the net as well, before he climbed down.

"We're under attack!" Hiccup shouted as he steered the Night Fury away from another cannonball that hit the waters sending a plume of waves up that washed down over the ship.

"It's Alvin and his crew!" Merida shouted from the nest.

"Again?! Does he never learn?" Eugene said as he grabbed to the railing when the ship cringed again.

"No he doesn't." Hiccup replied.

Jack looked between he crewmembers before he looked up front where a ship smaller than theirs waited, currently trying to sink them with cannonballs. Jack flinched when a cannonball came his way and he pressed himself against the net when it flew by hitting the waters behind the ship.

"Do they always aim this badly?" he asked looking at Hiccup.

"They _aren't_ trying to hit us; they are making us having to keep going forward, towards them." Aster replied. "Orders Captain?!" he then called. There he stood at the cannon in the front of the ship; it was loaded and ready to be fired.

"Do not fire, not jet… wait… now!" Aster nodded and a grin grew on his lips as he fired the cannon, the cannonball hit right in front of the other ship.

The two ships floated up along sides, Hiccup signalled his crewmembers to stay on alert. Jack had climbed down the net, currently standing on the railing with one hand still holding the ropes; casting a look sideways to where his staff stood leaning against the wall among cabins and containers under one of the stairs lonely, but before he manage to get to it the Outcast crew had already gotten on board.

"What do ye want this time Alvin?" Aster asked in a growl, ready to throw some egg bombs and a boomerang in his other.

"This ship. _The Night Fury_ , I want it." Hiccup sighed deeply

"So you've said last time as well… and before that." Hiccup took out his sword but did not let it start to burn "Get of _my_ ship and leave us alone and no one gets hurt." Hiccup warned. Alvin just laughed.

"'No one gets hurt' you say Hiccup?" Alvin smiled. "But jet you bare your weapon against me?" Jack eyed them with a slight hint of worry; he didn't want to get into this trouble. "Men! Let's take this ship!" Alvin shouted and the men shouted back as swords began to clash. Soon the deck of the Night Fury was filled with the sound of clashing swords and shots, but also the sound of Merida firing her arrows. Jack began to move; he got a hold of his staff and made himself ready to go up the stairs when he saw how two of the Outcast pirates recognized him.

"Hey… isn't that."

" _Jack Frost_? What a pleasant surprise where's yer captain and _master_?" Jack glared at them holding his staff in both hands, ready to attack or defend himself if it was needed. He began to back up the stairs. The two Outcasts followed grinning, but then Jack saw once he'd gotten to the upper deck how their grind grew wider. Merida turned his head to fire another arrow, but froze.

"Jack- JACK LOOK OUT!" she cried out, a second too late.

Jack didn't have time to react before a shadow was thrown over him and he turned his head slowly, eyes opening wide when he saw the blade, seconds before it cut downwards, a burning pain flared up on his back, Jack dropped the staff which clattered to the deck, before Jack collapsed to his knees, before he collapsed to the deck, grimacing in pain, he glared at the Outcast who had attacked him from behind. The sound of two arrows and the two who had been the cause fell overboard, the third Outcast looked up at Merida and growled, giving Jack enough time to crawl to his feet before he showed the man overboard, collapsing against the railing when the pain become too much, he gave away a pained gasp of air. He then heard how the captain called for his crewmembers to retreat, and they did, most jumped of the ship into the waters. The Night Fury kept going without a care in the world.

"Anyone hurt?" Rapunzel asked looking around with worry in her eyes.

"No." Hiccup looked around. Merida looked towards Jack who sat with his back against the railing.

"Jack, how's yer back feeling?" she asked, the others looked at him.

"I'm fine… it's just a scratch, noting to worry about." He waved his hand, but Rapunzel was not going to let a wound slide, especially when he lied about it.

"I'm the doctor on this ship, I decide if it's to worry about or not." She began to move towards him. "I need to take a look at your back…"

"No!" everyone blinked at Jack sudden outburst. "No, I mean, I'm fine really, you don't have to look at it." He got to his feet, but from the way he moved she knew it was more than a scratch.

"Jack." she said in a warning. "I _need_ to look at it." She moved closer and to her surprise and irritation Jack backed away from her. "Jack! Stop moving and just let me look at it." She said irritation starting to creep into her voice.

"I told you I'm fine. You don't need to look at it." Rapunzel stopped with a huff placing her hands on her hips.

"Guys, some help here." she said in a strict cold voice. Aster and Eugene sighed as they stood up from the container they had been sitting on, Hiccup straightens his back as well, and Nicholas smiled and stood up as well. Jack stared at them in shock, feeling a slight bit betrayed.

"Sorry, mate, but doctor's orders." Aster said Jack glared at him he tried to keep them all in view but it wasn't after a while he noticed that Nicholas was gone, and at the very same moment his big hands grabbed him holding his arms against his sides lifting him from the deck.

"Ah!" Jack gasped out "Put me down!" he kicked with his legs, but didn't reach the big man, who just laughed, but it died out when he saw the redness Jack's white shirt had absorbed from the wound.

"Good job Nicholas!" Rapunzel cried out victoriously.

"Where I put him?" Nicholas asked looking at her.

"Get him into the cabin." Rapunzel said pointing at it with her thumb. "Hiccup I need your help."

Once Rapunzel and Hiccup had gotten inside along with Jack and Nicholas. He put Jack down before he left to prepare dinner.

"Now Jack, will you for the sake of the sun let me look at that wound." He shook his head.

"It's fine, it's just a scratch!" Rapunzel groaned.

"We either do this the easy way or the hard way." She said. Jack glared at her, showing clearly that he wouldn't let them look at the wound. "The hard way it is." Rapunzel muttered. "Hiccup, take his hands and don't let go until I say so or he stops struggling." Hiccup sighed, he never like to have to use violence to be able to fix wounds, neither did Rapunzel, but sometimes it was needed.

In one way or another they had manage to get a hold of Jack, and they were currently pinning him to the bed in the cabin Hiccup held his hands against the mattress, while Rapunzel sat on his legs keeping him from kicking. Rapunzel had already managed to get the belt of, and all that needed now was to reveal the wound.  
Rapunzel gave Hiccup a worried look, Jack was trembling under her there he lay on his stomach; he still tried to get free. She took a hold of the hem of the white shirt.

"Sorry… but I have to do this." She pulled the shirt up, Jack gave away a choked cry when the fabric of the shirt that had dried together with the blood was torn away, but he also cried for what was now visible to them, he hid his face in the mattress trying to push the tears and sobs back. Rapunzel stared at it. "Jack…" she started but he just shook his head not looking up a muffled sob escaping his lips. Hiccup looked at Rapunzel and shook his head. Not now, he told her by only moving his lips. Jack had stopped trash around trying to get free, now it was no use to even try to keep it a secret anymore, they had seen it. Rapunzel gathered her stuff that she kept in the chests that was stationed in all the rooms of the ship. She cleaned the wound getting whimpers form Jack when she brushed over the wound, so she tried to be as gently as possible. Hiccup had let go of his wrists and was now subconsciously brushing his hand on Jack's head, letting his fingers get tangled in the brown locks. She was glad for the fact that the wound wasn't bad, it wasn't 't deep enough to need stitches, she bound a piece of cloth together and placed it against the wound, before she took and bandaged around it to keep it there, and also to put pressure on the wound. When she was done she managed to get the rest of Jack's shirt of for; cleaning, but also to fix all the gashes it had. She stood up and stopped at the door to the cabin looking back at Jack. "Jack…" she said not sure how to continue, she left, the door closed behind her. Hiccup looked down at Jack before even he stood up.

"Nicholas must be done with dinner about now, if you want any just come down to the galley... okay?" he sighed before he opened the door and walked outside.

They had all gathered in the galley, dinner had been served and eaten, Nicholas was currently gathering the dishes and Hiccup sketched in his sketchbook.

"Say… Nicholas…" he said as she stopped sketching.

"Hm?" Nicholas turned his head around.

"Do you know what this symbol means?" Hiccup asked as he let the sketchbook fall to the table to show Nicholas, the oldest one on-board what he'd been sketching. Nicholas had been holding an empty plate that shattered against the wooden floor when he saw the picture.

"Oh, by Moon… where did you find this?!" he looked frightened, but also so extremely worried. As he looked down worriedly at the sketch Hiccup made, it was the symbol that was made out of lines and looked to be made out of a rectangle with a flying dragon in the middle and over the dragon an S went in sharp ways.

"What is it and does it mean?" Hiccup asked looking at Nicholas who had begun to pick up the shards from the plate

"It's a slave mark." Aster replied placing his free hand on his chest growling a bit.

"Slave mark." Rapunzel and Hiccup looked at each other in worry.

"Yes, but not any mark, it the symbol for one group of people in special." Nicholas said.

"What, who?" Merida asked looking at him in confusion.

"Ach… you are all too young to know it." Nicholas said in a sigh. "This symbol belongs to worst crew of Pirates on seven seas, **_ever_**." He said slamming his hands on the table, everyone was looking at him, even Toothless and Pascal listened; Nicholas raised one of his hands pointing as if in a warning. "This crew kill and murder without mercy, crew's name… Nightmare Dragon."

"Nightmare… Dragon?" They all said looking at each other in confusion.

"Wait… nightmare?" Hiccup looked at Nicholas "Do you know the Crewmembers?!"

"In deed I do." Nicholas looked at them. "But Please Hiccup, where you see this?"

"Well…" Hiccup looked at Rapunzel who gave him a sad smile and a nod, he sighed taking back the sketchbook. "Jack… he- he had it on his left shoulder blade…" Everyone just stared at him.

"Oh by the Moon!" Nicholas cried out sinking down so that he sat at the stairs placing his hands over his face. "Poor child…" he whimpered. Hiccup stood up.

"Nicholas, please I need to know the crewmembers of the Nightmare Dragon! Does anyone of them have mind control?" Nicholas looked up at him.

"Yes…" Nicholas looked at him. "The second in command, a demon disguised as a man by the name Pitch Black. He's a hypnotist, and his powers are superior to any other." Nicholas sighed deeply. "The crew of the Nightmare Dragon are the captain, a madman who kills without reason; his name is Drago Bludvist, the second in command Pitch Black, and the Lookout and Navigating Officer Gothel…"

"Only three people?" Eugene asked raising one eyebrow. "And they are the worst crew on the seven seas?"

"Oh child, Pitch can brainwash countless people and make them into mindless slaves, they make out the rest of the crew, and then there are Drago's two slaves as well…" Nicholas looked at them. "Their names are Eret and Dagur… But Drago also has a mountain lion by his side."

"So Jack's a slave for the Nightmare Dragon… that explains a lot…" Eugene said looking at them…

"Yeah… it does…" Hiccup nodded.

"Wait… do any of ye remember where 'e said 'e was from?" Nicholas then looked up at Aster who had asked the question.

"Didn't 'e say he came from Burgess…" Merida said…

"Oh Moon." Nicholas sighed again.

"Nicholas what's wrong?" Rapunzel asked worriedly.

"Ten years ago… Burgess was burnt to the ground in a Pirate attack, according to the marines no one survived…"

"Wait… you mean?!" Rapunzel got to her feet.

"That explains why he didn't want to mention his parents…" Hiccup sighed tiredly, before he stood up. "Nicholas, can I get a bowl of soup… I believe Jack would like one…" Nicholas nodded.

"I to." He said standing up filling one bowl with the soup he'd made, before he handed it to Hiccup.

Jack had calmed down enough to not cry anymore, but he lied on his side staring into the wall.

" **Well… will you look at that. Your Lie is out what are you going to do about it?** " the shadows spoke.

"Shut up…" Jack mumbled out placing his hands over his ears

" **You really think that will help?** "

"Go away."

" **Really now?** " Jack stiffened when a hand created by shadows grabbed around his throat pressing him down against the bed. " **Remember who you belong to!** "

Jack's eyes flashed open and he darted up from the bed in a choked gasp for air.

"Oh, sorry… did I wake you?" he looked up and at the door he found Hiccup standing with a bowl of soup in his hand and jack's white shirt hanging over his arm and the doorknob in his other hand; about to close the door to the cabin. Jack looked away, but heard how Hiccup moved closer. "Since you didn't show for dinner, I brought you a bowl with soup…" Jack looked at it, when Hiccup put it on the nightstand. Jack reached for it placing it on his lap. "You're a slave..." Hiccup said looking down at him. Jack didn't look up he cringed at the words.

"I'm sorry… I wanted to tell you sooner… but-" he wasn't able to continue before Hiccup cut him of

"You're not the first."

"What?" Jack looked up at him for a short moment before he looked down again.

"You're not the first slave on this ship…" Hiccup said and sat down. Jack gave him a glance. "Aster is one to, he managed to escape and Nicholas protected him when he was about to be caught… I don't know all the details, but if you want to know more about it you should ask them." Hiccup smiled at him.

"How can you still smile at me..?" Jack mumbled out looking away.

"Is there a reason to why I can't do that?" Hiccup asked looking at him. "If you believe I will treat you any differently because of what's on your back you are highly mistaken." Jack looked at him slowly.

"But… I'm- I'm a… slave…"

"And I said I don't care, on my ship everyone is treated equally." Hiccup placed his hands on Jack's shoulders moving his head so he could look into Jack's eyes. "No one is treated worse than the other, _no one_." Jack looked up slowly giving him a weak smile.

"…Thanks…" Jack said so silent that Hiccup nearly missed it, but he smiled when Jack hugged around him; the first time Jack hugged him first. Hiccup gave away a silent chuckle as he answered the hug.  
And he found that he wanted to do this more often… if not even more.

He helped Jack get on his shirt, before he gave the teen the belt.

Hiccup walked down the last step of the stairs down to the galley, where the others still were gathered, he looked up to where Jack began to walk down, slowly not to get his back to complain.

"Jack got this perfect idea." Hiccup said looking up at the brunet who gave him a confused look.

"I did?" Hiccup just smiled at him.

"How about we tell each other about our pasts." Hiccup said. "We tell first, and then you can tell us." He looked at Jack "If you want to that is." Jack thought for a moment

"I… I like that…" he said as he sat down next to Rapunzel who gave him a apologizing smile, but also gave him a reassuring pat on his shoulder.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Nicholas sat down at one of the table's short ends after he had brought some cookies to it.

"So… who start tale?" he asked looking among the people in front of him, they all thought for a moment.

"Why not go from the way we became part of this crew?" Eugene said and looked at them all; Pascal had climbed up on his shoulder.

"That sound's fair." Hiccup said and nodded.

"Then I start." Nicholas said and smiled, the others nodded. Even if they all had travelled together for who knows how long, no one knew the details about anyone's past, Nicholas knew maybe more about Aster's than the rest but still. Nicholas took a deep breath before he knotted his fingers on the table and began to tell. "I was born in small village in north; snows year round, part only sun other none.  
We survived on hunting, and had big Yeti dogs for help. Even if I only knew winter I dreamed of the world, my wonder for things never reduced it only grow stronger, by age of 20 I left village with the traders that come to us giving news, stories, but the things we needed that couldn't make ourselves. I ended up in city by the ocean, I can't remember name, but I got small ship and went on journey, I met my old friends Sanderson and Lunar." He looked at them all and smiled. "We were uninteresting to marines; they checked ship if they thought it was bad. It was not until I got to the southern land that I met Aster." Nicholas looked at the Pooka, who gave him a slow nod. "He was badly wounded, sick, and this close to not make life." Nicholas showed a small space between his thumb and index finger. "He was in water a lot like Jack." Nicholas looked at the brunette who gave him a weak smile not holding the eye contact for long. "I helped him up, from water with help from Sanderson I bought him to-" Nicholas stopped talking looking at aster with thoughtfulness in his features. "Maybe you should tell your story before I finish, they do tangle." He said; Aster blinked before he sighed deeply.

"Yer right, mate…" he said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Well… I was born in the Land of the Sun, ma tribe was the Pooka." He looked at them all, but cast Jack a longer glance to see how the kid would react to what he was to tell, more than the rest. "Ma tribe were a calm tracker tribe, we were friendly to outsiders, but avoided them as much as we could." He leaned forward placing his crossed arms on the table. "I don't remember how old I was when they came…"

"Who?" Merida asked looking at him with worried eyes.

"They were from a kingdom with a crown, I don't remember the name of their country, but they took everything for themselves, ma sister Pookahontas and one of the crowns fell in love with each other, the elder's in my tribe found nothing wrong with it, love was the one thing stronger than any god or goddess we believed in, I still do. The leader of the crowns thought differently, no he rather got a good reason to why he was to start a war with us; he said we bewitched the one of his into madness." Aster took a deep breath gripping his arms harder. "They killed every elder and every child too young for work without blinking, to the women they brought upon their desire of passion before killing them, unless they were pretty, then they were brought as their toys back to their kingdom, me and the rest of the men and older teens were taken as slaves, free workers you could treat as shit we had to work during the day and we only got to sleep when the sky was dark, unless it was a full moon then it was a no rest, rain was a blessing for us all when the sky wasn't visible." Rapunzel had paled and Jack just stared at Aster; with a look the Pooka couldn't quite understand. "I tried to escape once, to the city but I didn't get far, they dragged me back, violating me so hard I was carried to one of the white tents. But I was sent out working the next day without any differ for the wound I had." Aster sighed. "It didn't take long before I tried to escape again, this time away from the city and out on the ocean, I manage to get away from them but it was during a storm I was thrown overboard and my little raft sank... my memories gets a bit blurry after that and the next memory I can make something out of is once I'm on-board Nicholas ship..." Aster moved his hand to his chest where the white mark of a handprint was painted he wafted some of the dry paint away and revealed a scarred circle with a crown in the middle. "This is the mark they gave me and the other Pooka's…" he cast a glance at Jack who had grown a bit pale.

"Well now, I continue." Nicholas said moving his hands together getting a nod from Aster. "After I brought Aster on-board with help from Sanderson, I brought him to cabin, Lunar looked after him, but I recognize mark on chest, and knew just by looking that it was not pretty sight that waited him if he got caught again, but I sailed towards the kingdom he ran from and I had to keep going."

"Wot?!" Merida stared at him in shock, how could he have done that?!

"In the water around land marines of kingdom searched water and boats, I knew they recognise him, so I painted mark over, put bandage over face and blanket over body, they asked about him and tried to get bandage and blanket of but I lie about him being sick with _necrotizing fasciitis_." Nicholas gave away a laugh "They left ship faster than fired bullet." He then looked at Aster "Once he got better he become part of ship Lunar had to lock him in cabin to keep him from moving." Aster frowned at that but a laugh then left his mouth, and soon the two was laughing loudly. "We travelled sea, before we found way to Berk, where." Nicholas now looked at Hiccup. "We got a stowaway." Hiccup gave away a strangled laugh at the name he'd been given. All eyes were on him.

"Well, were do I start…" he thought for a moment before he nodded to himself "I was born and raised on Berk, but when I was just a baby my mother were abducted by a band of bandits, I was never this strong nor crazy kid on the island, I was weak, could barely lift and axe." "I was a talking fishbone." Toothless gave away a snort from there he lay on the floor. "I had plans on running away now and then, but it wasn't until I saw this ship getting to the harbour, I had had a bad fight with my dad the day before so I was ready to leave the island just there and then. I snuck on and was not found until later by Sanderson." Hiccup sighed "For being a mute he was extremely loud." Nicholas gave away a laugh. "I was found and I thought they were to turn the ship around and take me back to Berk, but they didn't." Hiccup looked at Nicholas who gave him a warm smile back. "I become a part of their crew; I wasn't the captain on that ship, but I didn't really want to be one. It wasn't until later when we met Rapunzel and Eugene two orphans, who took care of each other, from the dump of Corona, it's a beautiful city, I tell you that, but it has a bright front and an ugly back." Both Eugene and Rapunzel nodded. "I had before they become a part of the crew fallen into an animal trap in the woods of the kingdom, when I had in one way or another gotten lost…" Hiccup looked at Toothless. "It was in that pit I found Toothless, he didn't trust me, and he had broken his leg, badly, in the fall. When Nicholas and the others finally found me I made them get Toothless up after me, the panther followed us, even if he held his distance."

"I was able to make his leg stop hurting him, while Hiccup made the prosthetic from the scraps that was on the dump." Rapunzel said and smiled, Hiccup nodded.

"It took me a weak to gain his trust, but in the end he repaid me by saving my life, but I lost my foot because of it, but I don't blame him for it. Eugene, Rapunzel why don't you two tell us your story." He smiled at them and Eugene nodded, and Rapunzel smiled, stroking some of her blond hair away from her face

"Well, both I and Rapunzel were orphans." Eugene started "We had both grown up on the dump, but I had manage to rescue this book, the tale of Flynn Rider and the golden flower." He said "I read it for the younger kids that also lived there; it didn't take long before I met Rapunzel and her chameleon, Pascal, she knew so much more than me, but all of it she had learnt herself." Eugene said and Rapunzel smiled a bit.

"Despite that fact that we didn't really like each other at first, if we count away all the lies we told normally, we began to let less lies and become partners in crime to get food to the younger children." Rapunzel said and smiled bigger.

"I will tell you once, do not underestimate her with a frying pan." Eugene said and chuckled.

"I don't remember where it was we found her, but she recognised me." Hiccup said closing his eyes and smiling. "We found my mother along with Cloudjumper on an island where she had lived after she escaped form the once who abducted her… at the same time… dad found me." Hiccup groaned.

"Not long after tha' we got chased by the marines, our ship was so badly damaged that we had to get a new one, and that was when the Night Fury was created." Aster said and smiled. "Ya should 'ave seen his face Jack; I thought he'd gone mad when 'e saw the dragon in the front."

"Oh please." Hiccup said giving Aster a glare. "You acted almost the same when you got the front room to yourself for your explosives and bombs."

"Well, it didn't take long after we got Night Fury and Jolly Roger that Merida got on-board." Nicholas said. "She threw tantrum and had to be locked in cabin to calm down."

"She nearly turned the room upside down." Hiccup said.

"Well it's not ma fault!" Merida said placing her hands on her chest. Hiccup and Nicholas raised one eyebrow at her, and she muttered something.

"Whatever." She said waving her hand. "I was born in Dunbroch a kingdom in the north, ma mother queen Elinor and ma father the king; Fergus also known as the Bear-king. Ma mother always wanted me to be this perfect princess and daughter; I became a sister to three new brothers. Hamish, Hubert, and Harris. Wee devils, more like. They get away with murder. I can never get away with anything, I got expectations, responsibilities; I got sick of it." Merida looked at them "But even so I never wanted that fate to happen to 'em…" Merida looked away. "The demon bear of my land came into the castle and killed everyone, ma dad fought well, but mom brought me and ma wee brothers to safety, but lost sight of them along the way… I hope they are still alive…" she sighed "after that I found this ship and got on-board, I was so frustrated already and he didn't help one bit." She pointed at Toothless who gave her an evil laugh in reply. Jack looked at them all, as they laughed at Toothless and Merida, and he started to feel like his life wasn't so bad after all… only he wished some part's never happened.

"Now Jack… do you want to tell us yours or not… we accept either." Hiccup looked at him; Jack looked up at him trying to not look away.

"I…" he looked away, and looked at the table, finding a way of fibre interesting. "I was born in Burgess…" he began before he took a deep breath pushing back the urge to just stand up and leave, they had told him, and he wanted to, really, really wanted to tell them his past as well, so he fought back the urge and the tears and fought hard to keep his voice as calm and steady as possible.

"It's okay…" Rapunzel said and placed her hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze, "don't stress, take your time, we'll wait." He gave her a smile.  
"I was born in Burgess, a winter night without a moon, my mother and father both loved me, but he also loved the ocean and a certain legend, when I was five I got a little sister, but before she was born my father decided to leave me and my mother for the ocean, I remember waking up to her sitting in the kitchen crying and dad's stuff gone, I ran out the door in only my nightclothes, naked feet but I didn't reach the harbour in time, I only remember his back disappearing, he didn't even look back when I called out to him, a week later my sister were born, but she was stillborn… my mother cried for weeks after that, and I had to work for money to get us food. And just when our life had started to get better he returned. I was eight when he came back. I was told that he only asked for me, no one else to talk to, he lay there on his deathbed badly wounded and only week strings held him alive. He told me when he had searched for, that he had found it, he didn't even ask about my sister nor how my mother had it, he only went on about his quest, he even gave he his logbook, and told me the whereabouts and how to get to the legend he searched for… the Fountain of Youth.  
He had worked alongside the Nightmare Dragon, but in the end not told them where it was, they had hunted him down and tried to kill him but failed, but he was wounded badly and the doctors said he would last two days. That night the alarm of cannonballs was heard and soon the entire city was aflame… I remember clearly how they kicked the door open and ignored me at first, before they manage to squeeze out that I knew about it as well, then they stabbed him in the chest with a sword… before they got to me I threw the logbook into the flame of the fireplace, but _master_ manage to save it… but the last pages become burnt so badly that they were unreadable.  
I thought they leave me alone, but they knew I knew about the fountain. I remember something coming towards my head before everything turns black, I wake up by a cold splash of water in my face, Eret threw it at me, but he gave me a sad glance after it and nods to the side and I see my town stand aflame, no one survived he told me. It's when I can no longer see land that the hell starts, _Captain_ … read thru the book and when he found he last pages burned… he ordered _master_ to get me to say where it was, but I tried my best to fight against it… but in the end he manage to force the words out of my mouth… it was after that they cut that mark onto me… marking me, putting an invincible leach on me. Eret was maybe the only one who tried to get me to feel a bit more comfortable with my miserable life… he's my first friend and the only one on that ship I would risk my life for. I had to work there, along other people who only did what they were ordered to, they never ate, never slept, but they didn't die either… some of them were only skin and bone.  
I lived thru pure hell… _master_ never looked for me unless he wanted to do that… I tried to fight back at first… I gave up on it the fourth time… I had to help them seek for the fountain, but I never told them because I didn't want them of all people to know its whereabouts. But it wasn't until recently _master_ suddenly got a so bad headache without reason that made him unable to control anyone, this resulted into the ones he controlled making mutiny against _captain_ and the others. I was barely able to escape… I was able to doge one sword attack, but got cut in the leg by another… and I strong hit to the head… I believe… sent me overboard, when I hit the waters I found a broken plank to cling too and I did. I can barely remember anything after that… I remember a flash of heat brush over me but then I only remember the rumble of the storm and lightning flashing in the sky… then I woke up on this ship."  
They all stared at him, Rapunzel didn't care if he would grow stiff or not, but she brought him into a tight hug, and he did stiff at first, before he relaxed into the embrace. Nicholas laughed and brought both of them into a hug as well, he got a squeak from Rapunzel and a whine from Jack when Nicholas accidentally nudged at the wound.

They were currently sitting and talking about other travels they made how they searched for treasures or fought with marines, Nicholas had made hot chocolate for them and a cosy atmosphere was in the galley. They had moved around a bit when they had wen to get the chocolate, Jack sat between Hiccup and Aster, and he was starting to feel sleep wanting him to close his eyes, but he wanted to listen to their stories till the end… his back hurt, yes, but the wound on his leg had been so much worse and given him more pain. He knew now that he was welcomed here, this was a place head want to return to… a… a home, Jack didn't realize how he started to lean to the side before he closed his eyes and sleep took him.

Hiccup cast a glance to his side when he felt a sudden weight increase; Jack had fallen asleep, and had ended up leaning against Hiccup's shoulder.

"Look the wee lamb's asleep." Merida said and chuckled silently.

"It's been a rough day… what'd ya expect." Aster said sighing deeply sinking back on the sofa

"But the Fountain of Youth…" Eugene said… "That's not just something to leave be, if it really exist… then, the other legends must be true as well…"

"It doesn't have to be…" Rapunzel said in a yawn. "I… think I'm going to take Jack's example… good night." She stood up and walked over to the girl's room and opened the door.

"Goodnight." The others said and she closed the door.  
Hiccup looked down at Jack who was sleeping, snoring silently.

"How do you plan on getting to the cabin bed?" he asked nipping at Jack's nose getting a grunt in reply and felt how his cheeks grow hotter when Jack to his surprise nuzzled against his shoulder before he fell asleep again.

"Oho." He heard Nicholas say, and he looked up to the man, who gave him a knowing smile.  
Damn it! Did everyone suddenly know his feelings for the brown haired teen?! He stood up and startled Jack out of his sleep.

"Wha- what what's going on?" he mumbled out looking around in confusion.

"I'm going to bed, Good night." Hiccup said a bit too fast, before he hurried up the stairs, Toothless looked up giving away a shout, but the door was slammed shut by the wind to his reply.

"What?" Jack looked at the others in confusion, but it only grew by the looks he got. "WHAT?!"

"Ach… don't you worry about it son, it's _love_ ~" Jack grew even more confused and gave away a confused sound not understanding anything for the moment, but a big yawn made him feel tired all over again. He nodded a bit yawning again, but tried to push it back.

"Ye tired wee lamb?" Merida asked grinning at him.

"Lamb? Am I a lamb now?!" he glared at her before he got to his feet and began to move towards the stairs. He was just about to open the door to the galley when Nicholas called out to him.

"Jack." he looked back to the big man who smiled at him "Goodnight son." He said and his smile grew even wider. Jack felt something he'd never thought he'd feel again…  
The feeling of home…

 _More info:  
Pookahontas is Pocahontas.  
Also Lunar is the Man in the Moon and Sanderson is Sandman,  
both of them will return in person, later in the story when I will introduce the crew of the Deadly Nadder, can you guess who the captain is?  
ewe_


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Hiccup sighed deeply when he got out from the galley… he looked up at the stars that sparkled over the ocean, the water was still, only a chilly breeze moved over the ocean, making the sails flutter now and then.  
He breathed out and his breath turned to smoke as he walked up to the railing and began to whistle… the tunes was random at first, but soon they turned to a melody he liked… and he, without noticing it, started to hum on a melody to the tunes he'd just whistled.

"Didn't you say you went to sleep..?" a voice asked with a yawn behind him, he turned around to see how Jack stood there, just closing the door to the galley, he hugged around himself in the chilly air and a sneeze left his nose.

"I did… but the stars caught my eye…" Jack looked up and Hiccup heard how he gasped. "There's not moon tonight, and Rapunzel say that when there's a night of no moon the stars shine brighter to make up for the moon."

"And you believe her?" Jack asked and walked up to him at the railing.

"She knows more of the stars than I do, so of course I believe her; we only have different opinions when it comes to the names." He chuckled a bit.

"Do the stars have names?" Jack looked at him in confusion.

"No, they aren't born with one, but dear child have many names." He smiled at Jack before he pointed at a constellation. "Do you see that one, which looks like a sitting bunny?" Jack nodded. "Rapunzel said that the star that makes the eye is named Evangeline; she is there first star in the evening and shines brightest in the night."

"Really?" Jack said looking at the star. "Evangeline, why of all names in the world did she choose that one?"

"She didn't choose it, a childhood friend of hers did." Jack looked at him.

"…from the dump?" he nodded and pointed at another star.

"And that's the Dipper."

"I saw it from Burgess, but I think we called it the Spoon… and not the Dipper."

"Well as I said, dear child have many names." Hiccup smiled at him, before he reached out his hand and ruffled Jack's hair, getting a disapproving groan form the teen, but it was also then he noticed how Jack was shivering slightly. "Your cold?" he asked looked at Jack, raising one eyebrow.

"No…" Jack said looking away hugging his arms tighter around himself when a wave of wind blew over the two. Hiccup chuckled before he took of his cloak and placed it over Jack's shoulders. He noticed how the teen flinched before staring at him. "Wha- but now you will get cold-"

"I grew up on Berk, this is nothing." Hiccup said there he now stood in only his green long-sleeved shirt; that had been thru a lot it was sewed together here and there, and on some places it had been fixed with other pieces of green fabric. Hiccup then looked out over the ocean and sighed; he missed how Jack looked down at the cloak before he hugged it closer around himself, before he looked out over the still waters, which reflected the night sky like a mirror. "This is one of the things I love about being out at sea; don't you feel like you're sailing thru space right now?" Hiccup got an positive sound from Jack, and he looked to the brunette, with that look. Jack noticed that he was being watched and turned his head slowly giving Hiccup a confused look.

"What..?" he didn't get a reply; Hiccup seemed to be deep in thoughts. "Hiccup? Earth to Hiccup, come in."

"Wha- what?" Hiccup blinked and gave Jack a distorted look. "Sorry… did you say something?" Jack gave him a grunt.

"You're acting strange."

"I- I am? In what way?" Hiccup gave him an unsure smile, had he noticed?

"I don't know; you're just acting weird…" Hiccup sighed, turning to Jack. "And after you suddenly left the galley Nicholas said something about love…" Hiccup stiffened, and grimaced a bit, but Jack didn't notice, he was going to tell the rest of the crew to stop it. From what he heard earlier; was Jack so much further out of his reach then he first thought… but still there he was right next to him.  
He reached out his hand towards the teen again that blinked and Hiccup noticed how he pulled back a bit, eyeing the hand with a caution that made Hiccup laugh a bit.

"Then allow me to be a bit weirder." Hiccup said as he placed his hand on Jack's cheek and leaned in.

He felt how Jack flinched and grew stiff, as if he was scared of what was to come after, Hiccup broke the kiss and looked into those eyes of the teen, with a scanning look before he brought Jack into a tight hug. "I'm not going to let them take you back to harm you even further." He said and he felt how a choked sound escaped Jack's lips. "Even if I will have to fight them."

The sun rose over the ocean and the Nightmare Dragon floated forward, like a bad omen.  
Pitch stood in the front with a scowl on his face, and irritation in his eyes. Things were getting problematic, but he knew what to do, to make things turn his way. He grinned and moved his hand to the gun that was at his belt.

 _"_ _But there's a catch, the only thing stronger than the power I gave you, is the force of true love."  
_ Pitch gave away a dark laugh.

"Not if I can change that." The Night Fury become visible to his eyes, and the grin grew wider. "We'll soon meet _Captain_ ~"

The crew of the Night Fury looked up when a howling whistling sound echoed out over the ocean. Jack looked at Toothless how gave away a whine pawing at his ears.

"What's going on?" he asked looking at Aster who stood closest.

"We're getting close to the Crying Island." He said. "It's over there." Jack looked in the way Aster pointed and saw the island flat sides at one side made by waves; the other was a stony beach with completely round stones, at the top of the island Jack saw a bundle of rock pillars.

"What are those?"

"They are pillars, no one really knows who raised them, but they are covered in holes, bigger and smaller, and when the wind blows thru them this sound is created." Rapunzel said and opened the Galley door for Toothless who nearly ran down. "Poor animal…" she sighed. Jack looked at her as she walked up to them. "There's a legend about this island…" she said. "There was once a fisher father and his woman who lived on the island, he was formed by the weather and knew the water's around the island better than anyone, but he was still too daring, his wife was a beautiful woman, a pearl from the ocean, black hair and fair skin. They got seven sons, and they were all happy. Then a series of storm hit the island, the first one surprised the fisher father and he was swallowed by the ocean, but his boat returned to the shore without bigger needs. The mother and now widow raised the first pillar with the help of her sons. A tall pillar with big hole, creating a deep tune. The oldest son took over for the fishing, but even he was surprised by the next storm and the same repeated, another pillar was risen this one with ten holes, smaller than the father's creating a higher tune. This repeated over and over again, till the mother only had the youngest son left, ten pillars stood now at the island creating the howling sound, she tried to stop her son to go out and fish, but he did it either way and the story repeated. In the end eleven pillars were raised, each pillar in different height and a different number of holes..." Rapunzel looked at them.

"What happened to the mother..?" Jack asked slowly.

"She got sick, so very sick, that in one of her hysterias she stood at the cliffs, cursing the ocean and winds that she had loved. And the storms stopped coming, only the howling winds created by the pillars was heard, then she took one step forward and become one with her family."

"She died?" Aster asked; he hadn't heard the story in a while and not the entire thing.

"If you want to call it that… yes she did, and now the ocean is cradling them all."

Jack looked at the island. Feeling his heart hurting, he placed his hand at his chest; the sound was sad, and melancholy…

The first island with a city grew in front of them. Jack walked up to the front of the ship seeing how the harbour was full of boats, and ships in all sizes, some were too big and lied anchored outside. He blinked in confusion when he saw and felt how the Night Fury turned, away from the harbour; he looked back to Jack in confusion.

"Aren't we going to sail to the harbour?"

"We are a wanted crew Jack, if we were to go to the harbour of this city, it would be as to give our self in, and none of us like the necklaces they have in store for us."

"Wait you mean?!"

"Yup, if we get caught, it's execution by hanging that waits us." Jack just stared at him.

"Doesn't ye 'ave a bounty?" Merida asked looking at him.

"I… No… I don't…" he looked at her. "I don't think I do at least…" he looked as if he tried to remember something. "The rest of them have one, but they are so high that no one's dares to try and capture them…"

The Night Fury docked at a pair of cliffs, hidden from view.

"What do we need to get?" Hiccup asked looking at Nicholas who had best look at the Pantry.

"Food, water-"

"Gun powder." Aster said.

"Again? Didn't you get enough form Gobber?" Hiccup asked raising one eyebrow.

"Herbs, and medicine, bandages and more thread." Rapunzel said.

"Well you seem to know what is needed." Hiccup said to them all. "Just don't get caught." Hiccup said.

"Right."

"Who guards the ship?" Merida asked "I can do that if no one's desperately wants to."

"Good." Hiccup said and they began to walk. Toothless began to follow. "No but, you need to help Merida guard the ship." He got a disapproving growl in return, but the panther walked up to Merida sitting down glaring at Hiccup before he looked away growling unhappy noises. "Ah come on you big baby, staying on the ship is not the end of the world." Toothless glared at him again giving away an irritated exhaled thru is nostrils before he looked away turning his body so that he turned his back to Hiccup.

Once they gotten up the cliffs a forest took over. They walked far until Eugene suddenly stopped with the sound of tearing paper.

"Oh no, no, this is bad, this is really bad."

"What's wrong?" Hiccup asked looking at him. "Did they get your nose right?"

"They raised your bounty. Look!" Eugene turned the paper around giving him a worried look. "It must have been after our little encounter with the Marines when we left the Deadly Nadder to take care of them, alone."

"Wonder if she's fine…" Rapunzel pondered humming a bit.

"It's Astrid we're talking about, she's fine, and she's not alone on that ship either."

"True." Aster said and a chuckle left his lips. Jack listened to them, but it was something that nagged him in the back of his head, a bad feeling. He cast a glance back towards the ocean, but he couldn't see anything.

"Jack, hurry up son!" Nicholas shouted out to him. Jack looked up to them and saw they they were far up ahead. He ran to catch up with them.

"You okay?" Rapunzel asked giving him a worried look.

"What? Yeah… the wound is reminding it's self now and then."

"I didn't mean the wound… I meant you." She looked at him.

"I'm fine, Rapunzel. Don't worry about it."

The city was big. Jack stared at the big houses; the rest of the crew had split up to get their stuff. Hiccup walked currently with him, Jack gave him a glance. Remembering the words he had said. Did he really mean them? But even so this nagging feeling didn't leave, and he knew something bad was to happen, but what and when?

"Jack, do you want anything?" Hiccup asked looking at the teen.

"What?" he looked around at first before he looked up at Hiccup who raised one eyebrow "Ah… sorry did you say something?"

"I asked if you want anything… but more importantly, are you okay, you've been spacing out a lot today."

"I'm fine." Jack said with pressure under the word. "Just never been in a big city in a while."

"Okay…" Hiccup looked around, and saw a small stand that sold cupcakes and other bakeries. A smile grew on his lips. "Come on." He said grabbing Jack's wrist and dragging the teen with him.

He bought two cupcakes, just when they were about to eat them Hiccup saw two marines; he took a hold of Jack's arm and dragged the teen away to a safe place. Hiccup smiled, and after a while even Jack started to forget the nagging feeling, and actually started to enjoy the moment with Hiccup. He felt how his cheeks grew a bit hot when he thought about it.

The sun had set and the two began to move back to the ship. Hiccup was laughing and Jack smiled, but Hiccup sighed after a while.

"It's too dark; we could be walking in circles without noticing it." He said.

"What about your compass?" Jack asked.

"To dark, I can't see the needle…" he sighed in defeat.

Hiccup had managed to make a fire and the yellow flames rose to the sky. They had one log at the fire. Jack sat on it currently while Hiccup put more wood on it. He looked around and grunted.

"I'll go and get more fire wood." He said and stood up disappearing into the shadows of the forest.

"Well I thought he'd never leave." Jack jolted and quickly got to his feet and spun around.

"Gothel!" he said shocked.

"Hello Jack…" she smiled at him.

"How did you find me?"

"Oh, It wasn't that hard, just followed the smell of complete and utterly betrayal." She replied. Jack now understood what the nagging had been, if Gothel was here then that meant… Pitch! He cast a worried look around. "Come now Jack, we're going back." She grabbed a hold of his wrist dragging him a bit before he pulled himself free.

"No!" he said backing away. Gothel stopped and turned around to him.

"No? Oh… I see how it is." She began to walk towards him. "I wonder how Pitch will take this betrayal of yours." She patted him on his head

"No, I haven't betrayed anyone." He took another step backwards.

"Then why haven't you come back, dear?" she looked at him. "It that captain holding you back?"

"What? No, I… I think he likes me…" Jack smiled a bit at it.

"Like you, Jack? Come on that's demented, this just proves your too naïve to be here, why would he like you come now really." She gestured to him. "Look at you; you think that he's impressed?" Jack swallowed and looked at her. "You make a mess wherever you go, while you're doing it right now." Jack blinked.

"What… what did you do?!"

"Oh? I didn't do anything. Get your mind back to the right track and lead us to the fountain. I'm not getting any younger here." She glared at him " **You belong to us.** " She spat in an ice-cold voice and shoved him in the chest

The Night Fury were about to return to the ocean. The rest of the crew had notice Jack's sudden change in the way he acted, he had just during one night gotten more drawn back, and his smile had not appeared once.

"What did you two do last night? You didn't hurt him did you?" Rapunzel asked in a hiss there she stood next to Hiccup who stood at the helm.

"What?!" he just stared at her. "No, I left him for a short moment of time to get more firewood, then we went to sleep. I didn't do anything to him, what do you think of me?!" she sighed deeply.

"Sorry, but it's just… I'm worried."

Eugene sat up in the crow's nest and looked around for marines or sudden rocks. He turned around and gasped, nearly dropping the binocular.

"Hi-HICCUP!" he screamed out. Hiccup and the other looked up to him.

"What is it Eugene?" the brunette just pointed behind them, not able to utter any words. Hiccup turned his head slowly, wondering what it was Eugen had seen, he thought that it was maybe a big armada, but no. a big black ship sailed towards them with speed, the front had a big black neighing horse with sharp teeth. He turned his head and saw how Jack had grown so extremely pale.

The big ship got up long sides with them and a gangway was thrown between them. Silence spread over the crew. Eugene sank down in the crow's nest, in a way to hide. Loud steps were then heard and a man around Nicholas height was visible before he began to walk down the gangway. Hiccup walked down the stairs to stand closer to the rest of the crew, Rapunzel followed him. He cast a look at Jack who had backed away and now stood close to the railing opposite side of the ship.  
Drago looked around the ship before he gave away a exhale thru his nose in disapproval.

"You've been troublesome." He then said looking right at Jack who quickly looked down at the deck. Hiccup gave away a silent growl before he cast the other Captain a glare and got in a protective stance in front of Jack. Other steps were then heard and Hiccup saw how a man dressed in black and red came walking, he had a victorious grin on his lips.

"Jack. It's been a while; I see you had a good time with _this_ crew, you haven't betrayed us have you?"

"No- No I wouldn't!" Jack stammered out looking up at Pitch for a moment before he looked down again. Hiccup felt even more anger towards this crew.

"Leave my ship. You aren't welcomed here." He said glaring at the two. Jack looked up staring at Hiccup in shock.

"Oh… well you have something that belongs to me, my dear _Captain_ , and I want it back." Pitch said in a voice that made Toothless growl. Rapunzel had her hands placed at him to stop him if she found it needed.

"I got no plans on letting you get him back." Hiccup said.

"Hiccup, don't!" Jack grabbed a hold of his cloak. But Hiccup was not going to change his state of mind. He was not letting them get Jack again, after all that Jack told them, I was clear his life had been pure hell, and Hiccup was not going to let him have to live thru it again, cost what it cost will.

"I see… I'm sad to hear that." Pitch said. "Jack, get over here. Now." Jack knew he had to do it to not have something bad happening, he began to move, but Hiccup held him back.

"I'm not letting you go." He said in a voice that showed he knew what would happen if he did.

The gunshot echoed over the ocean and made them all jolt. Jack heard how Hiccup gave away a groan, and he saw how the captain of the Night Fury collapsed to his knees holding at his side, before he collapsed to his side. He was grimacing in pain.

"I seem to have missed what I was aiming at…" Pitch sighed looking at the gun. "I will have to fire again." Hiccup glared at him, but Jack then suddenly stepped forward holding his arms in a protective way.

"Don't!" he said in a trembling voice. "I'll go with you… I won't try to run away again... just- just don't hurt him more." He said before he looked up at Pitch. "Please… master… I beg of you." Pitch gave him a scanning look before he put the gun back.

"As you wish. I will not harm them in any way." Jack sighed in relief, and began to move towards the gangway.

"Ja-Jack! Don't…" Hiccup said but winched in pain. Jack didn't look back nor reply before he was on the plank.

"Forget about me." He said as he began to walk up it.

"Jack!" Hiccup tried to get to his feet, but collapsed to the deck again. Rapunzel hurried up to him forcing him to stay down as she took of her headband and started to press it against the wound.

The gangway was removed and the black ship moved away from them.

"Well look who finally showed his face again." Dagur said and laughed as he walked up to Jack.

"Leave him alone." Eret said and hit the other slave in the head. Dagur glared at him before he left. "Sorry…" he said looking at Jack before he looked to the ship they were sailing away from. "They must have been a good crew."

"They were…" Jack mumbled out. But then suddenly the sound of an cannonball was heard and Jack spun around and he saw how the cannonball hit the Night Fury, an explosion then sent the entire ship aflame. Jack stared before he turned to Pitch and Drago.

"You said you wouldn't harm them!" Jack cried out. "You swore that you wouldn't hurt them!" Pitch looked as if he'd gotten a critical hit.

"I don't see myself harming them." He said. " ** _I_** swore on not hurting them. In what way did I break it?" Jack just stared at him.

"Any survivors?" Drago asked in an cold voice. Gothel stood with a binocular in her hands and looked at the ship.

"No." she said and a smiled crept onto Drago's lips. Jack just stared at the ship before another explosion was heard and he saw how The Night Fury had broken in two and was currently sinking into the depths of the ocean. It couldn't be… they couldn't be… no… no! He collapsed to his knees that had grown to week to keep him at his feet.

"If you'd have returned right away noting of this would have happened." Pitch said in a accusing voice. "It's all your fault."


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Aster blinked and he turned his head a bit, sniffing the air, what was this smell he recognized so well? He turned his head around and looked back at the Nightmare Dragon, and that was when he realized.

"GET OF THE SHIP!" he shouted everyone looked at him in confusion.

"What? Aster what's wrong?" Merida asked looking at him.

"WE DON'T 'AVE TIME FOR BLOODY QUESTIONS! GET OF THE BLOODY SHIP! NOW!" after a bit of hesitation they all jumped into the waters on the side closest to shore, Rapunzel and Toothless helped Hiccup to his feet and over board.  
Just as they got their heads over the surface the sound of a cannonball was heard and it cracked the Night Fury in the middle, sending Aster's little office aflame, when the explosives got to hot, and from that explosion the rest of the gunpowder stored on the ship exploded as well, the entire ship seemed to give away a pained cry as it finally snapped in two and began to sink, bubbles and shards from the hull gathered around it.  
They all just stared at Aster, who had basically saved their lives.

"How did you…" Rapunzel gasped as she at the same time tried to keep Hiccup's head over the surface, he grimaced in pain as the saltwater brushed over and into the bullet wound, at the same time the world started to grow blurry and dark, he had already lost the feeling in his legs and the sounds of the world around him turned distorted, and soon a darkness overtook him and the last thought that came to his mind where Jack's last words: _'Forget about me…'_

"I know the smell of gunpowder better than anyone, and I know what it smells like if it's 'bout to be fired." He growled. "Bloody! We should never have saved the kid!" he shouted hitting his fist into the water, Rapunzel gave him a glare before she returned all her interest to Hiccup, who had grown heavy in the water, and she began to swim towards the shore keeping his head over the surface.

"Don't you dare die on me Hiccup, who is to save Jack if you do?" She whispered so loud only he heard it, if he heard her that was.

Rapunzel laid Hiccup down on the ground quickly removing the belts to get up his shirt easier, she cursed when she saw the wound, the bullet had gotten stuck inside, and if she didn't remove it soon who knew what would happen and what kind of means he would have later on. Toothless sniffed at the wound, growling, before he looked at his captain and human in worry, Hiccup had lost conscious shortly after they landed in the water, and Rapunzel threw other curses around her as he made a primitive bandage around the wound, no longer any medical supplies to use.  
She looked up at the others to find Aster and Merida have a vocabulary fight.

"If we hadn't saved tha' kid, then noting of this would 'ave happened." Aster growled.

"It's not his foult!" Merida said glaring at the Pooka.

"Not his fault?! Look at the Night Fury for moons sake!" Aster shouted gesturing to the still burning material and what was left of the ship. "It's his fault; he could have told us to take 'im back to the Nightmare Dragon or gotten off at the closest island." Nicholas and Eugene shared a glance, before the big man sighed deeply, moving one hand to massage the space between his eyes. Aster and Merida kept going but didn't get anywhere.

"SHUT UP!" Rapunzel suddenly shouted they all turned to her in shock. "Hiccup is badly injured an all you think of is: what if's and maybe's! Get your head and mind back in the track of here and now!" she was angry. "We don't have time to fight! Hiccup **will** die if we don't find a safe place indoors where I can get to take care of him properly and where he and the rest of us can rest!" Rapunzel glared at them all but mostly Aster. "They tricked him. Didn't you hear how he begged for them not to harm us? Don't you **dare** blame the kid after all this."

Nicholas carried the wounded captain in his arms; Hiccup had started to turn to a sickly pale, and if you didn't see him breathe, you could easily mistake him for being dead.  
Rapunzel walked with a constant eye on the captain, and she noticed even the slightest change in his condition.

They walked thru the forest, she and Nicholas along with Toothless who wouldn't leave his human's side walked together, while the others had split up in search for an asylum for them to rest in, but also to wait in till they got a new ship.

The day was starting to end and everyone had returned with no news, expect Merida who still hadn't returned yet.

"Please let her not have been captured." Rapunzel said in a worried voice.  
They all sat down in front of a fire, but Nicholas didn't let Hiccup down, because if he placed the captain on the ground, his already falling body warmth would disappear faster.  
A sudden rustle in some of the bushes made them all look up and Merida stood there, with a brown haired teen around Jack's age at her side, he had his hair gathered in a tight ponytail at the back of his head where the rest of his hair was short he had a ring on one ear and had blue eyes.

"I found ay place for us ta rest." She said and looked at them with triumph. "And Jim will show us tha way."

"Can we trust 'im?" Aster asked grabbing a hold of the collar to the teen's dark brown jacket.

"The fire-head told me your captain is badly wounded, I can show you the way to the dungeons if you rather want that." He growled back, Aster let go with a grunt when Eugene placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Aster, I know you're angry, but go and fight a rock if it helps, we _need_ this kid's help." He said.

"What your name kid?" Nicholas asked standing up, Hiccup gave away a barely hearable grunt at the sudden move in position.

"My name is James but many often call me Jim…" he looked at them all as he fixed his shirt and jacket "Follow me." He said and led the way into the forest the crew followed.

An old house with two floors become visible, it lied opposite from the city, with a little pier made from wood, where a little boat was fastened. Jim walked over to the door and opened it.

"Come on in." he said and they walked inside. Startling a woman; with brown hair with grey strays gathered in a bun at the back of her head she was cleaning a table, and at her feet a younger child stood around the age of seven, it had a strangely pink tone to its rather blond hair.

"Oh by the stars." She gasped when she saw Hiccup. "Hurry inside; put him down here I will get some water." She hurried out of the room the child staring at them with big eyes, before it ran up to Jim and laughed.

"Pirates! Pirates, Ay o' ho!" Merida looked at the child and gave away a laugh.

Nicholas put Hiccup carefully down on the sofa that stood in the room in front of an open fireplace where a fire burned; he got a pained expression form the captain when he moved him, but it disappeared slowly when he got seated on the sofa.  
Rapunzel sighed deeply she had manage with the help of the woman, who was Jim's mother; gotten some primitive stuff to help her get the wound fixed and the bullet out, but she didn't like them. Nicholas sat next to her sterilizing them by putting them in alcohol. Rapunzel removed the primitive bandage, before she looked at Hiccup with a worried look. She then took what she needed and began to search for the bullet in the wound, Hiccup gave away a pained gasp, forcing his teeth together and Nicholas almost had to hold him down, Rapunzel pressed her lips together so hard that they turned to a pale line, and she thought she tasted blood, as she concentrated on what she was doing.  
The others had sat down on chairs or were standing resting against a table or windowsill waiting in worry, hoping for the best, even if they knew that hope could vanish in a heartbeat.

Rapunzel cursed now and then, but in the end managed to get the bullet out. She gave away a sound of approval putting the tools away, before she took a needle and thread and began to stitch the wound together, making it easier for it to heal, before she put a big rolled piece of clean fabric and put over the wound and then started to bandage around the wound as tight as it was needed, but still loose enough for Hiccup to be able to breathe. She sighed and sat up stroking the back of her hand and arm over her forehead.

"He lost a lot of blood…" she said tiredly "But I believe he will be fine without a transfusion…" she brushed some of his damp locks away from his face that had gotten a feverish tone, before she removed the drenched cloak from him getting a groan from him, before she placed a wet piece of fabric over his eyes and forehead.

The woman then came walking with a blanket in her arms.

"Here. The nights tend to get cold." Rapunzel stared at the blanket, they must have needed it so much more than them, she looked up at her and smiled tears in her eyes.

"Thank you…" she said and stood up taking the blanked form the woman who smiled back at her.

"I made some soup if anyone would like." They all hummed in agreement, the soup was warm, but thin, and it was needed, they were still wearing half damp clothes after all, Rapunzel gave everyone an order and that was to try and sleep in so few pieces of clothing as they could so the rest could dry properly.

"What was yer name again kid?" Aster asked as he'd finished the bowl of soup he'd been given.

"James Hawkins, but Jim works to."

"Hawkins you say?" Nicholas asked and gave away a thinking hum stroking his brown beard. "Say, are your father a pirate, son?"

"Yeah…" Jim looked at him. "He left for the seas when I was little; I read about him in the news now and then, don't care about him so much as I would wish to..." Nicholas gave away a sad sigh patting the boy on the back.

Toothless sat next to the sofa watching Hiccup in worry when the others ate.

" _Hiccup…_ " he said slowly placing his head next to his human's.

" _Toothless, he will be fine, Rapunzel told us so._ " Pascal was climbing on the sofa looking at him.

" _I know…_ "

" _It's something else isn't it…_ " the chameleon said walking up to Toothless. " _You're worried about Jack to._ "

" _You felt the fear he had just as well as I did._ " Toothless said in a growl.

" _Yes I did…_ " Pascal sighed looking up at Hiccup. " _Wonder how he will react when he wakes up…_ " the chameleon pointed at Hiccup with his tail, Toothless nodded and brushed his head against Hiccup's shoulder. " _At least he didn't lose a leg this time._ " Toothless cast the Chameleon a glare.

" _I didn't have another choice; they don't have much to take a locked grip on!_ "

Hiccup woke up two days later, and when Rapunzel told him what happened to the Night Fury, he bolted upright on the sofa shouting "What!" before Rapunzel pushed him back down.

"The wound is not even close to healed don't you dare make it reopen." She said in a strict voice holding him down, until she was sure he wouldn't try to move in a while.

"What about Jack?" he asked looking at her. She looked away. "Rapunzel, I asked what happened to Jack?"

"That traitor is where he belongs." Aster said in an irritated voice, arms crossed over his chest and glaring out the window where the rain washed down over the glass.

" **What**." Hiccup's voice got dark. "He didn't betray any of us."

"Then wha' about the Night Fury!?"

"He had nothing to do with it!" Hiccup sat up a bit more.

"What do ye know?" Aster spat "Ye had yer hands full on dying!"

"Aster!" Nicholas boomed; this was getting out of hand.

"No, why." Aster glared at them all "Why did we trust 'im from the beginning? He lied to us at first; 'e could have kept lying for all we know!"

"He did not lie." Rapunzel said looking at Aster with a stern glare. "He lied at first, yes, but then he told us the truth." Aster growled. "But if you still want to see that kid as a traitor, the door is over there." Rapunzel said standing up pointing at the door.

"Hey… calm down now…" Eugene said holding his hands in a worried gesture. "There's no need for this." He looked at them with pleading eyes, but he was ignored.

"As ye wish." Aster spat back giving Rapunzel a last glare before he began to move to the door.

"Aster!" Merida called out but the only reply she got was the door slamming shut behind the Pooka as thunder roared outside.  
Rapunzel sank down on the chair she'd been sitting on earlier hiding her face in her hands and took a deep breath.

"Why do things have to be so complicated…" she mumbled out as a silence spread in the room. Jim looked down at them in worry from some of the upper stairs of the staircase, but didn't say anything, and the child didn't say anything either there he stood next to him.

A week had passed since the Night Fury been sunken and Aster left the crew.  
Nicholas was currently walking down to the harbour; he was going to look for a ship for sale, but when he found none at the size they would need, he walked to the shipyard instead.  
When he got there he looked among the many ships that were being built, or were just getting finished.

"Well, if it isn't Nicholas." he turned around and found a man with a big smile on his lips standing behind him dressed in black and red with brown hair and a red bandana around his head.

"Sinbad, well look at how you grown." Nicholas said and smiled, gesturing to the man who stood up from the barrel he'd been sitting on. "You were just mere child last I saw you."

"Well times go by, what are you doing here of all places?"

"Well, looking for ship." Nicholas sighed sadly.

"What? But what about the Night Fury of yours?"

"We had a bad turn with the Nightmare Dragon." Nicholas whispered. "Night Fury is sleeping on bottom of ocean." He louvered his head.

"The Nightmare Dragon!?" Sinbad just stared at him in pure shock.

"Yes, son. Now I look for new ship." Nicholas began to move away

"I think I can help you with that." Sinbad said and Nicholas turned around. "Follow me." Sinbad led the way and Nicholas followed, it didn't take long before they stopped in front of a ship, it was bigger than the Night Fury at the hull even if it still was only three masts, but was still smaller than the Nightmare Dragon.

"What beauty…" Nicholas said looking at the big ship. "What's her name?"

"She doesn't have one, jet. She had one owner, but he died just before she was finished. She is currently waiting for a crew to take her in." Nicholas walked over to the ship placing his hand on the wood that was in a light brown yellowish colour.

"Oak… 1 meter thick, you really are a steady ship, girl." He patted the ship's hull. Sinbad smiled before he looked to the side at a small croaky house.

"Hey! Old shipwright! I got you an interested buyer!" he shouted, Nicholas turned around to see how a familiar old woman came walking out from a door, on her shoulder a black crow sat looking around with a bit craziness in his eyes.

"Ah, a buyer ye say, lad?" the lady said and hit Sinbad in the chest with her staff before she walked up towards Nicholas. "And why do ye want me ship?" she patted him with her staff on his broad shoulders.

"Me and crew are in need of new ship." Nicholas said; the old lady looked him over.

"New ship!" the crow suddenly cracked Nicholas blinked at it.

"So the Night Fury's not good enough for ye anymour Nick?" the lady walked past him knocking at the ship with her staff instead.

"She was sunken by Nightmare Dragon." The crow gave away a shocked squawk jumping dropping some feathers at the same time.

"The Nightmare Dragon?!" the woman cried out before she placed her hand over her face. "Me best ship!" she then turned back to the unnamed vessel "But this wee lassie will be better! She is the best ship I've ever built." She then turned to Nicholas again. "And ye say ye want to buy et?"

"Yes."

"I know ye take care of me ship's well, I know Hiccup's ay good captain." She patted him on the chest with her staff. "Where're ye staying at during the night lad?"

"At the Hawkins's." the lady laughed.

"I see; the father bought good ship of me." Nicholas laughed at her.

"I never thought I see you here of all places, old witch."

"I never stay at one place for too long, I got bears to carve and ships to build!" she began to move back to the croaked house.

"What you want for ship?" Nicholas asked. She stopped walking, humming for a moment.

"A lock of hair form the lass." She said and turned to Nicholas with a smile.

"Which one?"

"Bouth." The old lady said and smiled big pointing to the air.

In one way they had gotten the ship to the small harbour outside the house of the Hawkins's.  
It didn't take long before the crewmembers walked outside and just stared; Rapunzel and Toothless helped Hiccup out the door to look at it.

"I found ship." Nicholas said gesturing to the vessel he was standing on.

"And all that's needed to pay for is a lock from the lasses and she's yer." The old Lady said and appeared next to Nicholas who gave them an apologizing gesture.

"What!? Again!?" Merida cried out, before she took out her knife and in an unhappy gesture and cut of a lock of her red hair holding it out to the lady, the crow flew and took it dropping more feathers in the flight. Merida helped Rapunzel with the lock and the crow flew and took it too.

"Thank you lassies." The woman said and snapped her fingers before she opened a door to the ship and closed it. Nicholas blinked and walked over to the door opening it again, she was gone.

"Stupid witch." Merida muttered crossing her arms after she put the knife back. "What do she want me hair for?"

Now with a ship the only thing that held them to the island was Hiccup's condition.  
The wound was healing, but slowly, without the medicine Rapunzel usually had, but with the Night Fury gone she was without the medicine and her bellowed tools. She looked out of the window starting to wonder where Aster had went, if he was still on the island or if he'd gotten on a ship and left them behind.

"What's bothering you?" she looked down at Hiccup who still lay in the sofa.

"I'm just worried about Aster…" Hiccup sighed tiredly understanding her worry.

"What good does worrying do..?" he said looking up at the roof. "It doesn't help anyone if the distance is too big." Rapunzel looked at him and she gave him a sad smile.

"Let's just hope he'll be fine." She said. Hiccup looked at her, before he understood who she meant.

"Yeah…"


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Eugene and Merida was at the shore where the Night Fury had ben sunken, searching for objects that had been washed up on shore by the winds and waves, Merida searched the beach; with a bag standing at the border to the forest, while Eugene swum in the water with a bag in his hand, searching for the things that had been dragged down with the ship at the ocean floor.

Merida walked around in the sand without her boots and had rolled up her tights, he scratched in the sand when're she thought she saw something of worth. She gave away a laugh of triumph when she found her carved bear, a bit burnt, she kept on searching and found other objects too, after a while she cast a glance to the water just in time to see how Eugene shot his head up over the surface gasping for breath. He swam there for a moment getting his breathing back to normal.

"How's et going?!" Merida shouted, he turned his head and looked at her giving her a thumb up, before he took a deep breath and dove down into the water again.

He swam back down to the wreck of the Night Fury.  
He had found more stuff then he first thought that had both survived the fire and the cannonball. One of Rapunzel's chests with medicine was unharmed. When he found nothing more he began to swim upwards, a sudden movement at the side of his vision made him stop and turn his head around, there waving in the currents from the waves their flag, the Night Fury flag still waved, a strange feeling grew inside, and he knew at that moment, he didn't want another flag than this one. He took it away from the mast and a sound that sounded like a sad apology made him look down to the black dragon figure, he swam down to it, and he felt that he needed to say goodbye… he reached out his free hand and placed it on the nose of the dragon. " _Hello there…_ " he thought, what was he to say to a ship? No, she was more than just a ship. It was their ship, she had been there for them countless of times, a non-voiced member of their crew. " _It must be lonely and dark down here…_ " some bubbles of air came from the eyes of the dragon Eugene gave it a sad smile " _Don't cry, we're all fine, Hiccup's getting better, we got a new ship, she still hasn't a name, I think you will like her, don't worry, you won't be forgotten, after all, you're_ our _ship._ " he felt how his lounges started to burn, he needed to breath! " _Thank you, for everything, you were and are still and will forever be, amazing._ " He closed his eyes and began to swim back to the surface a loud crack made him look down and he saw how the dragon split in two before shattering into small pieces along with the rest of the ship.

" _Thank you..._ "

Merida looked up when she heard the splashing of water; she looked up to see how Eugene began to walk up on shore.

"Did ye find anything?"

"Yeah…" he said tiredly. "I found the flag." He lifted his hand, the black flag with the white dragon and bones hung damp with water dripping from it.

"That's all ye found?" she pointed at the flag raising one eyebrow, Eugene gave her a deadpanned glare before he lifted up the bag full of stuff.

"You think I spent so long under the water with only a flag in hand?" she gave him a grin and stuck out her tongue. "Oh, yes, very mature…" he said in an irritated voice as he took on his shirt and the rest of his clothes that he had on his upper body and took on his boots. They both began to carry their stuff back to the house of the Hawkins's; they opened the door and walked inside.

"How did it go?" Rapunzel asked looking up from a book that the child; whose name was Morph, had given her and she was currently reading it aloud for him there he sat on her lap looking with big eyes at the pictures, despite how much he tried to hide it, was Jim also listening to the book his mother had read for him when he was little, the stories about the legendary pirate Captain Flint.

"We found some stuff." Eugene said putting the bag down. "And I found the flag, it had survived the fire." He walked up to Hiccup who took the flag in his hand sitting up a bit more with a grimace, before he opened it and a smile crept onto his lips. "What do you want me to do with it?"

"Put it on the mast of the ship. We're still the crew of the Night Fury." He smiled and a chuckle left him and Eugene smiled as he took back the flag.

"I found this." He then said and lifted up the chest from the bag, Rapunzel gave away a sound that was inhuman at the sight of it, she put Morph down and got to her feet hurrying up to it and put it on the table and opened it, everything inside was dry.

"I got my medicine back!" she cried out in happiness. Before she turned to Hiccup and he froze there he laid on the sofa.

"Oh no, no, no, I'm fine as it is." he shook his head, but she just smiled bigger.

Eugene climbed to the top of the middle mast of the big ship he had fastened the flag, but it hung damp and no wind blew around them, he looked down at Nicholas who stood on deck; the others stood gathered on the pier.

"So what shall name be?" Nicholas asked holding up a bottle of rum in his hands; it was fastened to a rope. Hiccup gave away a laugh that turned to pained wheeze from the wound that Rapunzel cleaned and put her medicine on, before he looked up at Nicholas.

"…Bewilderbeast..." he said in a wheeze, but when he got his breath back he said the name loud and clear "The Bewilderbeast."

"Another dragon it is." Eugene sighed but smiled. Nicholas nodded in approval and threw the bottle out form the ship the rope was lose at first before it got stiff, when it couldn't reach more and then the bottle fell back towards the ship and shattered.

"Welcome to the crew Bewilderbeast." Nicholas said and laughed as gust of wind blew round the ship from the direction of the shore where the Night Fury been sunken up along the mast and made the flag blew out and it was as if the entire ship gave away a frisson before the wind stilled.

Three masts, pale blue sails and a grey white colour, the Bewilderbeast was a magnificent ship, and as the old lady had said, the best ship she had built. Unlike the Night Fury that only had two rooms that was up on deck, had the Bewilderbeast one room more, at the front. The galley was bigger and so were the pantry and storage room, even the two rooms for the crewmembers were bigger. As time went by Nicholas and Rapunzel helped each other with fixing the galleon figure that was symbolizing the Bewilderbeast, Rapunzel even "danced" around with paint to colour the ship, she oiled some parts and painted other. When the ship had dried they moved in, putting down the few things they still had, Aster's stuff were all put in the left room in the front, while Rapunzel created her first doctor's office on their ship, she now didn't need to keep medicine in chests in every room, and could gather more herbs and plants for the medicine now than before. There was even place for a bed in the room!

Hiccup was still in pain from the wound, but now he didn't need support to walk around, even if Rapunzel told him not to think he could do things he'd done before, he was still not fully healed. But where he was often seen was at some of the rocks next to the small harbour the house had, sitting and looking at the compass that Toothiana given him so long ago, the arrow spun around not stopping, but a clomping sound made him look up and there in the water something he'd never thought he'd see again floated, he got to his feet in a grunt and walked down to where the stones touched the water and picked up Jack's staff, he hadn't closed the compass and the arrow stopped abrupt pointing towards the northeast. Hiccup stared at the arrow before he got to his feet again and stared in the direction of the arrow.

"Jack…" he breathed out more to himself than anyone else. Something changed in his eyes and he closed the compass and began to move back to the house. He hadn't gotten far inside before the door was thrown open by Merida who stared at them with big eyes.

"I saw 'im." She gasped out placing her hands at her knees.  
Rapunzel and Eugene looked up from drying the pages of the books and Hiccup's sketching block that had been saved, Hiccup turned around to look at her and Jim and Morph looked up.

"Who?" Hiccup asked in confusion.

"Aster, I saw him, he's at the Snuggly Duckling." Eugene stared at her.

"Wait, you mean that he hasn't left the Island?"

"No, I saw 'im with ma own eyes." Merida sighed standing up now when she got her breath back. "I thought 'e left with the first ship away from 'ere, but 'e stayed." Hiccup sighed. "What do we do? Are we just going to leave 'im 'ere?" she looked at Hiccup who sank down with a wince on the sofa. "Hiccup..?" the captain sighed

"Do he even want to return? We don't know what he's thinking, nor do we know what he plans to do, I can talk to him, but." Hiccup looked at her. "He may choose not to return to the crew."

"Then what? What if 'e changes his mind? And we've left?"

"Merida, I will talk to him. And according to Rapunzel I'm fit enough to return out to the sea, and if the weather look's fine the day after tomorrow we'll leave for the ocean."

"Wot?" she stared at him "But he's a member of this crew." She said, Hiccup sighed deeply.

"No, he walked out thru the door, he left the crew." He gestured to the door with a tired look on his face. "I know you haven't been a pirate for a long time, but if someone walks out the door, they leave the crew for good." Merida opened her mouth to say something, but she then closed it again and looked away.

Hiccup walked thru the forest, towards the Snuggly Duckling, he looked around to see if he found Aster, but in the end he opened the door and walked inside, the room was dimmed, and full of pirates and other people who were wanted by the marines, he looked around and then found Aster, he sat in the far corner of the big room, a jug in his hand and empty ones standing on the table. Hiccup cast a glance at the other people, before he began to move towards Aster.

"Can I join?" he asked when he got to the table, Aster looked up over the edge of the jug, before he put it down.

"Why, _Captain_ , what do ye want?" Aster asked in a cold voice. Hiccup sat down with a grimace before he looked at Aster with tired, but steady eyes.

"I want to talk."

"About what, _Captain_?"

"No formalities Aster, just talk, two men between." Aster took another gulp of whatever it was in the jug, before he put it down on the table, maybe a bit harder than needed.

"Then, what do ye want to talk about, _Hiccup_?" he leaned forward on the table.

"About Jack." Hiccup said.

"Why do ya want to talk about that traitor?"

"Can you explain to me why Jack is a traitor, since I don't remember correctly?" Aster gave away a growl.

"He betrayed us."

"In _what_ way?" Hiccup looked into Aster's green eyes, not looking away.

"When did 'e do anything for us?" Aster glared at Hiccup "'e's been nothing but trouble."

"But still you helped him when he got his nightmares. I still have a hard time figuring out what your relation with the kid was, you bickered now and then, but you and Merida do that also." Aster looked away and a deep sigh left him, before he placed his hand over his face. "Aster… you care for him just as much as the others." Hiccup looked at him.

"I… I don't really blame 'im…" Aster mumbled out. "I… he was like a brother I ne'er had… he reminded me so much about Pookahontas…" Hiccup softened when he saw the tears drop to the tablet, Aster's shoulders were shaking as he tried his best to fight back the tears.

"Aster, I will give you a choice…" Hiccup started, as he looked away from the man. "We are leaving to the ocean tomorrow, to find Jack and save him…" Hiccup stood up moving his hand to his side, grabbing the chair to keep his body from falling over. "We got a new ship… the Bewilderbeast, and we got room for you still… If you want to return to the Crew, we'll wait till the sun is at zenith." He looked at Aster. "If you want to return we'll welcome you, but if you don't want to return, I will accept that too." Aster didn't look up. "But if you choose not to return, goodbye, it was nice knowing you." Hiccup left the tavern. And when the door closed behind him he sighed deeply, before he began to move back towards the house and the ship.

The flag fluttered and the ship swayed in the wind, they had got their stuff on-board and all that was left now was the crew, they thanked the Hawkins's for letting them stay with them. Morph looked at them with sad eyes.

"Morph pirate to!" he cried out grabbing Merida's jacket.

"Sorry wee lad, but when ye get older then ye can become one." She patted him on the head.

"No! Morph pirate now!" tears started to grow in the child's eyes.

"Now, now wee lad…" he said before she looked at Rapunzel with pleading eyes, Rapunzel smiled before she sat down on her heels in front of the kid.

"I know you are a Pirate, Morph, but you can't come with us, if you do, who's going to protect your mother and brother if you do?" the child looked at her and he gave her a nod letting go of Merida and ran up to his mother who lifted him up in her arms.

They all got on-board, the sun was rising slowly.

"What are we waiting for?" Eugene asked.

"Aster." Hiccup said. "I told him we're leaving when the sun reaches zenith, but he decides if he want to come or not." Eugene sighed.

"I understand."

Merida stood at the railing looking towards land. Bunt the further the sun went the more she began to understand that he wouldn't come back. She turned away from the railing when Hiccup gave order about taking out the sails and to leave for the ocean.

"Wait!" a voice then suddenly called, she turned her head around and there he was, coming jogging towards the pier. Merida threw down the rope ladder, but Aster still had to jump to get to the ship, he got a grip of the ladder only his feet hit the water, before he started to climb up the ladder.

"So you decided to get back on the ship. Welcome back to the crew, Aster." Hiccup said and steered the ship away, they waved goodbye to the Hawkins's before the sails was taken out and soon the ship moved towards the northeast.

The sun were sinking and soon it rested over the horizon, Hiccup stood at the railing, compass in hand as he looked down at the needle, it pointed steadily to the northeast. Aster closed the door to the room that was his workroom. He had put his stuff in order, he looked up at Hiccup; he sighed and scratched the back of his head, before he moved up the stairs.

"Hiccup…" he said; the captain turned his head around to look at him. "What ye said about saving Jack… how are we going to do that?"

"I will figure it out once we get there."

"Hiccup, ye saw what they did." Aster said gesturing to the direction the ship was in

"I didn't just see it, I felt it very well." He looked out over the water again. "Just think about what they made Jack, live thru."

"Ye love 'im." Hiccup didn't look back, instead he looked back to the compass; it gave away a wobble before it got steady again.

"I do… that's why I have to save him." Aster nodded, no words needed, he understood.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The Nightmare Dragon moved slowly over the ocean like the bad omen it was.

"Get to work you lazy slaves! I want this deck shining so clear I can reflect my beautiful face on it!" Gothel shouted as she shoved mops in Eret's Jack's and Dagur's chest's before she pointed at the deck, Dagur growled at her and argued back, but Eret and Jack did as they were told without saying a word. Eret cast Jack a worried glance, the kid hadn't said anything after the Night Fury been sunken; it was as if his voice vanished with the crew.  
He had new bruises, and Eret knew how they had come to, but he couldn't do anything about it, also, the wound Jack had on his back, he saw that it was not being treated the way it was needed to, it had grown infected, he was sure of it, because Jack's eyes had a feverish glance over them, and Eret had at the end of the days found himself nearly having to help Jack stand. If this continued, he was going to die.

"Pitch!" he called out when the man walked past them, the tall man turned his head giving him an irritated glare, how dare he, a mere slave talk to him.

"What is it son of Eret?" he asked in a cold irritated voice.

"It's about Jack… sir." Pitch turned around completely, looking Eret up and down.

"What is it about Jack; he's my slave I treat him how I want."

"I know; I was not going to say anything about that, but the wound he has on his back, if it isn't cleaned and taken care of properly, he will die, and then what he knows about the fountain will be lost and no one will find it." Pitch's eyes flared up in anger as he grabbed around Eret's throat, the man dropped the mop.

"What was that, slave?" Pitch growled out "Are you giving **_me_** orders?"

"No- no." Eret said taking a grip of Pitch's wrist. "It- needs to be cleaned; he will die if it's not taken care of properly!" Eret wheezed out.

"Pitch, release the slave." Drago's voice boomed from the helm. Pitch let go of Eret who louvered his head coughing and gasping for air.

"As you wish; _captain_." Pitch spat before he looked back at Eret. "Then you are to fix it, but if he dies, you are next." Pitch walked away with a growl. Eret swallowed.

"Yes, sir…"

Eret had gotten what he needed to fix the wound, it was dark and only those under Pitch control worked, the three slaves sat in the small space that was their room, if you even could call it that, their "bed's" was made from old sails and ropes that had either broken or was no longer of use, he took of Jack's shirt and swallowed when he saw the other bruises and scratches from fingernails… but he didn't say anything about it and returned his interest to the wound he was going to clean.  
He did it as carefully as he could when he noticed that Jack was in pain from it, but still enough to clean it properly, when it was done he changed the bandage, before he helped Jack down so the teen could sleep in a less painful position. Jack looked at him with tiredness dripping from him, but also the fever making his mind blurry

"Sleep..." Eret said and brushed some of Jack's brown damp locks away from his face. "It will make the wound heal faster." A faint chuckle left Jack's lips before he closed his eyes, Eret wasn't sure if he had understood, or if he was even heard... Dagur sat in the far corner, already snoring loudly, the younger teen was a deep sleeper, but a kick was enough to make him wake up. Eret placed a piece of the sail over Jack's shivering body, before he laid down arms crossed over his chest in a way to stay warm.

The coming days played out as normal, but when Pitch wanted Jack to get to work five days later, Eret stopped him.

"He needs to rest, you gave me the permission to take care of him, and I will do that until he's fully recovered, if you force him to work now, he _will_ get worse and die." Eret got a glare from Pitch, but the man walked away muttering some curses under his breath but didn't do anything else.  
Eret sighed in relief, before he moved into the small room to check on Jack's condition. He opened the door and walked over to Jack; the teen was lying on his side panting for air as the fever burned his mind; making his memories and dreams merge together into a mixture that made him have a pained expression on his face. Eret sank down next to him, placing the back of his hand against his forehead, he was burning.

"I need to cool you down…" Eret said and cursed under his breath before he got to his feet, to fix something cold to place on Jack's head and body to get the fever to drop, but he didn't get further than to the door before a sudden cold gust of wind filled the room, he turned around slowly: Jack was lying on his chest the bandage had gotten a faint reddish tone at the wound, but that wasn't what made Eret stare, it was the frost that began to creep out from under the teen, and the corners of the room, as the air around him began to turn to clouds from the coolness that spread in the room. He saw how Jack whimpered in pain, but he wasn't sure what caused the pain if it was the frost itself or just a train of painful memories that played thru his feverish mind.  
The frost grew more solid and soon ice began to take over, Eret scraped his fingers over it thinking he was starting to see things, but it was cold to his fingertips and it melted as ice usually did if he touched it. "It can't be…" he said slowly, and he nudged his eyes and when he opened them again the frost was still growing and soon the entire room was covered in ice and a condensed moisture in the air began to sweep over the floor, he shivered, but he moved over to Jack again. "Jack…" he said shaking the teen carefully not to harm the wound, Jack opened his eyes in a blink, Eret stiffened, his eyes had a white strong glow covering them, similar to how they looked during Pitch's mind control, but white instead of yellow. The white glow disappeared in a blink and the ice and frost began to melt fast in the room. Jack gave away a pained groan, moving his hand to his head.

"What… happened?" he asked looking over to Eret.

"I'd like to know that too." Eret said looking at the walls where frost clogged together before they fell to the ground and darkened the wood. "Since when did you get icy-powers?" Jack stared at him, more awake then he'd been the previous days.

"What?" he moved his hand to cover his eyes "No, it was the staff… I don't have any powers…"

"What staff?" Eret gave him a worried but also confused glance. "You didn't have a staff with you, and you never had one on-board this ship..." Jack spread some of his fingers to give Eret a glance…

"It must have been destroyed along with the ship…" he mumbled out, turning to his side curling together on the sails and ropes. Eret sighed before he reached out and placed the back of his hand on Jack's forehead again, the fever had grown lesser.

"How do you feel?" he asked slowly to change subject and to get Jack to think on something else than the Night Fury, he had expected so many answers, but the one he got wasn't one of them.

"Lost…"

The Bewilderbeast moved fast over the ocean, she was faster than the Night Fury because of the bigger sails, but mostly they were the same expect for the bigger space the ship had.

"What's the closest island from here?" Merida asked looking at Rapunzel and Hiccup.

"We got our map turned to food for the fire, but from what I remember the closest island from here should be Port Royal, but I'm not sure how far it's left before we get there."

"So we're basically sailing without knowing what's ahead of us." Eugene said there he sat on some barrels. Rapunzel nodded.

"But we still have Hiccup's compass, it will help us get to Port Royal." Rapunzel said and looked at the captain who opened the compass and looked down at it, the arrow spun around for a moment wobbling before it stopped, pointing ahead of them.

"We're going in the right way, straight ahead." He said.

Port Royal grew in front of them after two days; the noise of the city reached them before they even got close to the harbour, after they docked the ship in the harbour they went out to the city in search for maps, but also other things they needed to the new ship. Nicholas went away to find food to fill the pantry with, while Aster searched for gunpowder. Merida and Eugene looked for maps and now and then found things they needed. Hiccup, Rapunzel and Toothless walked around searching for information from the Marines, but also to find books for Rapunzel and new pens and paper to himself. Toothless trotted next to them, and they had it quite comfortable-

"HICCUP!" a female voice suddenly roared. Hiccup blinked and turned around "YOU SON OF A HALF-TROLL, RAT-EATING; MUNGE-BUCKET!" there she came, storming towards them like a raging fire; axe raised in anger. "YOU LEFT ME ALONE WITH AN ENTIRE FLEET OF MARINES!" she shouted grabbing his collar and putting the axe against his throat.

"Now, now, milady..." Hiccup said holding up his hands in row of his head. "If I would have stayed you wouldn't have gotten the fame you've wanted and it would have seemed as if you _needed_ my help to win over the marines, you got a bigger bounty because of this." She growled before she took down the axe and let go of his collar, he was right, and she did not like it, she punching him on his side, where the wound was. Hiccup flinched and with a pained groan sank down to one knee.

"Wha- I didn't hit you _that_ hard!" she said shocked as her blue and yellow parrot landed on her shoulder.

"Hiccup!" Rapunzel said hurrying up to him. "What's wrong?"

"Ah- the wound is just got reminded again-" he said in a pained wheeze.

"What's wrong with him?" Astrid asked worriedly as she patted Stormfly on the back with her free hand.

"He was shot…" Rapunzel said slowly as she helped her captain to his feet again, he held his hand at the wound, grimacing as he moved.

"Ah… sorry Hiccup, I didn't know-" he just gave her a wave and a shake of the head; he didn't want to hear any apologizes. She looked at Rapunzel, and the woman understood that she wanted more information.

"Not now, we can talk when the two crews are gathered at the same place." She said and smiled at the blond captain before she looked back to Hiccup in worry.

As the sun began to set the two crews had gathered in the galley of the Bewilderbeast, Hiccup sat down still massaging the aria around the wound, around him the rest of his crew stood, sat or leaned against walls or tables, Nicholas smiled at the crew of the Deadly Nadder that had gathered in the galley as well.

Astrid stood up; she wore a blue tunica and over it a cloak with a furry collar, she had a red skirt, with pegs around her waist and under it her deep brown tights took over before a pair of furry boots hugged around her feet, her blond hair was braided together into a big one that hung down over her back, but she still had some of her bangs hanging down over her blue eyes.  
One step behind her Sanderson stood, he had a warm smile on his lips and his blond nearly golden hair was short and stood in all directions, he wore a yellowish shirt and a pair of yellow brown pants, he had brown friendly eyes, he was the short, mute, shipwright and chef.  
Jane sat on a barrel next to him, she had two locks of her brown hair going back to the back of her head and wore a white shirt and a yellow corset with short loose arms and from her waist it went in a V down to her hips, under this she wore a pair of olive green pants and high brown boots, she was the navigator of the crew.  
On Astrid's other side Lunar stood, the pale man had white hair that was short on his head, but became a long ponytail at the back, he wore a white shirt and a loose belt in a pale blue colour, his pants where greyish and he had grey shoes made by leather, he was the doctor of the crew.  
Behind him Mulan and Mu-Shu stood the two wore similar clothes, a loose white shirt, that in Mulan's chase hid her female figure, around their waists they had a belt, Mu-Shu's was red while Mulan's was green, they wore pants in deeper colour of their belt and a pair of comfortable old shoes. Mu-Shu's red hair stood in all directions, but mostly straight up and then moving like the nails of a hedgehog backwards to his neck. Mulan had short hair that ended at her jawline.  
Heather sat next to Sanderson, her black hair in a braid that fell down over her shoulder as her light green eyes looked at the other crew with a hidden worry, she wore a plain brown shirt with a belt going across her chest, from her shoulder to her hip two belt's went and one around her waist, where a green piece of fabric was bound under the belts. Black pants took over under the long brown shirt, before a pair of leather boots took over.  
Maximus stood there also, his brown eyes glaring daggers at Eugene who tried his best to hide behind Nicholas. The blond nearly white haired man wore a brown vest over his white tunica and had pale beige pants, around his waist a blue piece made form a beautiful textile went around and ended in a knot at his hip. Stormfly and Toothless played around as they had done since the first time they met, both trusted the other to death and their play never took a wrong turn.

"So? What happened, who shot you?" Astrid asked crossing her arms over her chest looking at Hiccup, breaking the silence.

"It's a long story…" he began before he sighed and looked up at her.

"I got time." Astrid said and funnily sat down. Hiccup sighed again, before he began to tell them what they had done after their ways had split along with the alliance they had, at the encounter with the Marines.  
Hiccup paused after he told them about how they found out that Jack was a slave. Astrid just stared at him, while Sanderson and Lunar shared a sad glance. Hiccup took a deep breath and continued, Rapunzel and the others shot in now and then to give their side of the story, and in the end Astrid got to her feet, knocking the barrel she'd been sitting on over.

"And you still plan to chase after him?" she said shocked. "After all that happened, all for **_him_**?" Hiccup looked at her.

"I love him, Astrid, I can't deny it any further, and I won't be able to live with myself if I find out he's dead because of that crew."

"But-! It's the **Nightmare Dragon** Hiccup! It's suicide to try and fight them!"

"You cannot make him change mind." Nicholas said in a steady voice. "He has decided, and we follow." Astrid just gave them a bewildered gaze before she shook her head and placed her hand at her forehead and sighed.

"I- Just-" she sighed again before she looked at them "It will be dangerous." Hiccup got to his feet grimacing a bit at the wound.

"We're pirates." he said receiving a half-hearted glare from her. "It's an occupational hazard."

"Let us help you fight, after all, the more we are the better we can fight against them."

In the end they had recreated their alliance, the crew of the Night Fury and the Deadly Nadder friends once again. The two ships left Port Royal alongside each other, the Deadly Nadder a slight bit smaller than the Bewilderbeast.

"You never told me she was this big!" Astrid said gesturing to the grey ship.

"Well, you never asked." Hiccup replied as he leaned against the railing.

"So where are we going?" Mulan asked. Hiccup took out his compass before he pointed with his entire arm.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

 _The night was holding the big island in its dark grip; most of the citizens of the big city were asleep.  
But still a young black-haired boy ran over the cobblestones, he wore a red torn shirt and grey pants, his feet was in a pair of black shoes, he stopped at the corner of a house gasping for air as he looked down at the moneybag he had in his hand, this would save her… he hoped. He began to run again and heard the sound of those who were chasing him, those who he'd stolen the money from… he dashed to the side and pushed himself away from the wall, and threw barrels and other garbage in the way to get to his feet again in the tight turn he'd just made._

 _"Get him!" a voice called behind him, he looked back and gave away a laugh when he saw how the ones that chased him fell to the ground because of the garbage, but then he was suddenly thrown to his back, when he got an abrupt stop.  
He blinked his eyes open and stared up and froze there he laid on the ground, the big man who he had stolen the money from stood there, a woman with a patch over her eye walked out behind him._

 _"You been irritating, kid." She said and a smile grew on her lips. The man cracked his knuckles._

 _"How dared you steal from us?" the man said in an angry voice. The boy gave away a nervous laugh and backed away back to his feet._

 _"Was- was this bag yours?" he stammered out, holding up the bag. The man's eye twitched_

 _"You little punk better return it." The man spat but didn't get further before the loud of tree hitting against his head was heard, the man collapsed forward, the woman turned her head around and got a tanned fist in her face, knocking her out._

 _"Hiro! What in the world were you thinking!?" a young female voice called out and the boy saw her stand behind the collapsed woman, holding a broken plank in her hands, at her feet her cat Pig stood hissing at the outkicked woman. "Come on, hurry up, Tadashi is waiting, and he's **not** happy about the stunt you pulled tonight." She said moving some of her dark brown nearly black locks of curly hair out of her face, she wore a pale loose shirt that was absolutely too big for her, she had ropes bound around her waist and wrists to keep it from falling off, under the shirt she had a pair of brown pants that held her legs in a tight hold, a pair of brown well-worn shoes took over and held around her feet. Pig gave away a mew and his tail gave away a wobble, before the two youngsters began to hurry thru the city, she had knocked the other men out as well, and no one chased after them, Hiro looked down at the bag in his hands, this was enough money for the medicine, it has to be enough!_

 _They opened the door to the shabby one story house that was their home, burning candles was the only light source in the big room._

 _"We're back…" Tip said; a tall black haired man stood up from the edge of a bed where a brown haired woman lied with a wet piece of cloth over her face to cool down the fever that was burning her mind and body._

 _"Are you okay?" the man asked walking over to Hiro, who still held the bag of money in his hands._

 _"Yeah, I'm fine." The boy replied the man grabbed his ear._

 _"Then what were you thinking?!" he shouted. "What would you have done if they caught you, you knucklehead!"_

 _"I didn't get caught and I got money for the medicine!" Hiro said massaging his ear when Tadashi let go. "We can give it to the doctors and by the medicine and give it to Aunt Cass and she will be fine again!"_

 _"Ah, Hiro." Tadashi groaned placing one hand over his face. He was wearing a white shirt and a pair of dark pants, over his shoulders a grey vest was, over his head a dark blue bandanna was bound, holding his black hair away from his face, over his body scars went, made from fire. "I know you want to get Aunt Cass to be well again, but are you sure it's enough for the medicine, you know how the doctors are, they will only ask for more until we can't get any, then they will just let her die." He sat down on the bed again. "They don't want to help us Hiro; after all, we're just street rats…"_

 _"But-" Tip began, before she closed her mouth, he was right, no matter what they did, to the richer they were always street rats, even if they were smart.  
Aunt Cass had tried her best to give them an education, she had taught them to read and write, she had taken care of them as her own after the fire, that killed Tadashi's and Hiro's parent's and gave Tadashi those scars, when he had run back inside in a desperate try to get his parents out of the house... some years later they had found Tip along with her cat Pig, she had lost her mother under unknown circumstances and Aunt Cass took her in, and taught her to read and write, at the same time she worked hard to get money for food and clothes to her kids, she worked so much that even Tadashi sometimes had to force her to go to bed so that she didn't burn out. "-there must be something we can do to save her. I- I don't- I don't want her to die-"_

Aster sat up in the crow's nest looking out over the ocean, the Bewilderbeast and Deadly Nadder had been going on for a week without any sights of either land or another ship.  
The crews talked between each other now and then, if you asked some they would say they were lost, but the only thing that told them they went in the right direction was Hiccup's compass.  
Rapunzel stood at the map with Astrid next to her, they tried to figure out exactly where Jack and the Nightmare Dragon were or were heading.  
Aster sighed and turned his head forward, he blinked and took up the binocular and looked again.

"Island!" he shouted getting the other's attention. "Island 12 o' clock!" Rapunzel looked down at the map; she had with the help of the stars the previous night gotten a bit more in touch of where they were, and with an island in front of them… she put her finger down at the map.

"We're here." She said, "The Island's name is, Home."

"Home? What a weird name." Eugene said in a chuckle as he looked towards the dark line on the horizon that grew bigger.

"We'll be there in three days." Astrid said placing her hand on the table and the other at her hip, before she looked down at the map again. "Do you think the Nightmare Dragon is there?"

"We know once we are there." Nicholas said as he got up from the galley, bringing a plate of snacks with him. Toothless head jerked up when he got the sent from them and ran up to the big man stroking around his legs before he got to his hind legs placing his paws on Nicholas chest giving away a roar. The big man laughed. "Right, right here you go." He said and gave the panther one of the snacks, Toothless bite around it and got back to his feet trotting away victoriously, as if he'd just caught the main prize.

"So if we don't find the Nightmare Dragon at the island…" Merida began "What are we to do?" she looked down at the map "Jest where are they going?" Rapunzel looked to the map and looked further up the northeast and her eyes landed on a country she'd just heard stories from, a country ruled by a queen who could control winter.

"They are going towards Arendelle…" she said slowly, not entirely sure if it were so.

"Are they after the Snow Queen?" Hiccup looked from the compass to her and got a gesture that showed that she didn't know in return.

"But why would they be after her?" Rapunzel asked looking at him in worry.

"I… I don't know." He said "we don't even know anything about how to get to the fountain… maybe it is in Arendelle."

The island grew big in front of them, at the middle of Home the big houses made of stone belonging to the rich was the first thing you saw and the closer to the harbour and shore you got the house's grew worse until they were nothing more than ruins.  
Hiccup looked around at the island, before he looked to his compass; it gave away a wobble when he thought about the Nightmare Dragon, in a way to find the ship. The needle spun around a bit before it pointed towards the Northeast.

"The Nightmare Dragon's not here." He said turning to the others closing the compass.

"Even so, we still need to fill the pantry." Rapunzel said. "We might even find information about if anyone met or seen the ship."

"True…" Hiccup sighed, she was right, but even so, he'd rather keep going so that they could find Jack faster, before it was too late, if it not already was.

They docked at the outside of the harbour, both the Bewilderbeast and the Deadly Nadder was too big to go closer. Hiccup sighed as he got to the pier, Toothless followed him, Merida, Aster, Mulan and Mu Shu stayed behind to guard the ships if it was needed, while the other's searched for food and other needed materials, Nicholas, Lunar and Sanderson bought the food and also herbs for medicine.

Toothless trotted in front of Hiccup, Rapunzel had come with them as well, along with Eugene. They asked around the citizen if they had seen a black ship go by or dock, mostly their replies were negative, but now and then they found someone who had seen the ship.

"Yes, I saw it about a week ago… it moved fast over the ocean, I remember it because it was no wind on the ocean that day." A young man around Hiccup's age said, he had black hair and dark eyes.

"Which direction did it go?" Rapunzel asked.

"Ah… Northeast if I remember correctly… Say; why are you wondering?"

"They took something very dear to us." Hiccup said and closed the compass he'd been looking on. The man looked at him.

"And you're chasing after them to get it back?" the man asked

"Yes." Hiccup said.

"Tadashi!" two voices suddenly shouted from behind them, and two young kids came running, a boy and a girl, they stopped in front of him.

"What's wrong?"

"'It's Aunt Cass." The girl said worry filling her voice.

"She's gotten worse, and the doctor's won't accept the money, so we can't get her the medicine she needs." The boy said. The man looked at them in shock.

"Why would they not accept the money?!" he said, nearly shouting.

"If she doesn't get the medicine soon, she'll die!" the girl cried out.

"Could I… possible get a look at your Aunt?" Rapunzel asked; the three looked at her and it was clear they didn't really trust her, while Hiccup, Eugene and Toothless stared at her in shock.

"What? Why should we trust you? You're noting more than pirates." The boy said in disgust.

"She's a doctor, the best I know." Hiccup said giving Rapunzel a pat on the back.

"Well… it's not like things can get worse…" the man said and sighed. "Follow me." He said.

"Tadashi!" both the boy and girl cried out in shock "They're pirates!"

"If we do noting Aunt Cass will die, we can at least let them look at her, it's the last hope we got…" the man said giving the kids a smile.

They were led to the house where the trio lived, Rapunzel saw the woman first; the two kids gave them untrusting glares, not without reason, they were after all pirates. Tadashi walked inside and Rapunzel followed him.

"What's wrong with her?" Rapunzel asked looking at Tadashi who sighed.

"According to the doctors, she only got a high fever, but Tip say's otherwise." Rapunzel looked at the girl.

"What do _you_ think is wrong with her?" the tanned girl glared back at her and her body language told clearly that she didn't trust Rapunzel even the slightest.

"I believe she's gotten Spotted fever." The girl said in a harsh voice; Rapunzel looked back to the sick woman.

"And why do you believe that?" she looked the woman over, and she heard how a growl left the girl. Did this pirate think she was only a street rat as well? Rapunzel looked back to her, when she didn't get a reply. "Why do you think she got the Spotted fever?" she asked again.

"She is starting to get faint spots… and she complained about ticks not so long ago…" Rapunzel looked into her light green eye that in some light's looked like they were brown.

"What did the doctor's say about your theory?"

"They just laughed at me… how could _I_ ; a puny street rat know anything about medicine." Tip crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're not wrong." Rapunzel said and got to her feet, this threw the girl's guard of, and she just stared at the blond woman.

"I'm right?" she said shocked "I knew I was right." She then said with more audacity in her voice, getting an amused look form Hiro.

"How do you cure it?" Tadashi asked and Rapunzel looked back to him.

"Well… I need to get my medical supplies to be able to cure her" Rapunzel said in a thoughtful voice, before she cast Tip a glance "And I think I will need some help with that." Tip gave her a confused glare.

In the end Tip had helped Rapunzel get the stuff to the house from the ship, and the two were currently making the medicine Aunt Cass was going to take to get better, but also other things that were needed for her to get well again. Rapunzel stayed behind when the night came, and when the morning started a new day, Aunt Cass's fever had gotten dramatically reduced.

"How is she?" Hiccup asked as he opened the door and walked inside, he was worried for the woman, but he was more worried about Jack.

"Her fever is down, the spots are disappearing and she will be back to normal in a day or two, but I will stay here to make sure she doesn't get worse." A mutter came from the captain's direction, Rapunzel sighed as she looked back to him standing up. "Hiccup, I know you want to save Jack as fast as possible, but they need my help." Hiccup looked at her, before he looked at Tadashi, Hiro and Tip who stood at the bed giving them a glance now and then, she was right, he knew that, but the feeling of torn never left him.

"Wait… are you looking for a person? I thought you said they stole something dear to you, I… I thought you meant an object of some kind…" Hiro said; Hiccup looked at him with tired eyes.

"What did you say his name was now again?" Tadashi asked

"Jack, Jack Frost." Hiccup said and both noticed how the three shared a look, before Tadashi got to his feet walking over to the bed and started to search under it, before he took out a small chest, he stood up with it in his hands, it was old and covered in dust.

"His father was here some years ago… he told us to look after this, and give it to his son when he came by… but you seem to know him better than what we do, so I will give it to you instead." Hiccup took the chest, it was locked and he didn't find the keyhole.

"Do you have the key?" he asked and Tadashi shook his head.

"No, Overland said that his son had the key, but I have searched for the keyhole as well, and it's not there."

The day was early when a groan suddenly came from the bed, Rapunzel looked up from her book she had been reading; there she sat at the table. Tip sat opposite side of her snoring with her head lying on the table arms crossed over it as a pillow.  
Rapunzel stood up and walked over to the bed, Aunt Cass was moving her hand over her face, before she got her eyes on Rapunzel; her surprise was clear when she did a double take and a movement to back away from Rapunzel.

"Who are you-?" the woman asked in a hoarse voice and sat up in the bed.

"I'm Rapunzel, don't worry, I'm a doctor."

"How did they find the money to get you to take care of me..?"

"They didn't… I don't take money to help people's health get back to normal." A mumble came from Tip and she sat up a bit at the table.

"Hey." Rapunzel said; getting the tanned girls attention, it didn't take long before she saw that Aunt Cass was awake.

"Cass!" she cried out running up to the woman and hugging around her, Tadashi and Hiro woke up with a start at her sudden outburst, and it didn't take long before Aunt Cass had her kids hugging around her, and Pig and Mochi purring in happiness on her lap.  
Rapunzel smiled big at them. She made herself ready to leave when Tadashi walked up to her.

"Thank you." He said she just smiled at him. "Here." He held out a bag of money as payment for her trouble. Rapunzel looked at the bag before she held up her hand and stopped him.

"I'm a doctor and a pirate, but I know you need these much more than I do." She smiled at him. "You are good people, with great potential, and if _she_ manages to become a pupil under a doctor she will become a great one." Rapunzel said and smiled as she nodded towards Tip.

"Um… I never asked for your name…" Tadashi said Rapunzel gave them a laugh.

"My name is Rapunzel; I'm the doctor, navigator and chief; of the best crew I could ever wish for, the crew of the Night Fury."  
Aunt Cass looked at her kids, before she came to a conclusion; she knew they wouldn't be able to live to their fullest potential on this island with the richer putting pegs in their wheels. She looked at Rapunzel.

"How many is there in your crew?" she asked her voice a bit more clear now than at first.

"We're six people and seven if you count Toothless…" Rapunzel looked back to her "Why do you ask?"

"Well… I was just wondering if you possibly could have space for three more." She made a gesture to Tadashi, Hiro and Tip.

"What?! But, Aunt Cass!" Hiro and Tip called out, Tadashi just stared at her as if she was out of her mind.

"I will be fine, I promise, and if you stay here, you will never be able to become anything more than street rats, I want you to be able to fly." She smiled at them.

The Bewilderbeast and the Deadly Nadder hummed silently in the wind and swayed because of the waves, the two ships if you looked clearly behaved as two good friends, bumping into each other as a joke now and then or just making the wind make them laugh.  
Hiccup sat at in his cabin at the desk, the compass lying on the table the needle pointing towards the northeast, Jack's staff was standing leaning against the desk and the small chest stood there to, as Hiccup tried to figure out what possibly could be inside it.

"Hiccup!" a voice suddenly shouted from outside and soon the door to the cabin was opened by Nicholas.

"Rapunzel is back, with friends." He said; Hiccup gave him a confused look before he got to his foot and walked out to deck. Rapunzel came walking followed by Tadashi, Hiro and Tip, and Pig trotting after them. Rapunzel stopped at the Bewilderbeast and looked up at him.

"I hope you don't feel bad about me getting more crewmembers…" she said giving him an unsure smile. He leaned over to the railing.

"Well, I'm just surprised… so you three want to become crewmembers of the Bewilderbeast?"

"Yes..." They said after a while.

"Well then, get on." Hiccup waved then up, and they began to climb up the rope ladder, Tip had put Pig on her head to get the cat on-board.  
Toothless looked up when he heard the cat mew, and he blinked at the cat with a pig tail, before he got his eyes on the three humans that stiffened at the sight of him.

"Hey there, Toothless." Rapunzel said and walked up to him and scratched the panther behind the ears earning a purr in return. "They are our new members." She said.

"So, who are ye three?" Aster asked.

"My name is Tadashi, this is my little brother Hiro, and this is-"

"My name is Tucci but my friends call me Tip." Tip cut him off.

"Okay Tip-"

"My _friends_ call me Tip."

"Tucci…" Aster muttered and Eugene gave away a chuckle.

"Well then." Hiccup said smiling at them. "Have you said your goodbyes and all that because we are going to leave right now." He got nods in return. He walked up to the helm "Get the sails up and let us keep going towards the Northeast! Towards Arendelle!" he shouted, Astrid shouted out orders to her crew after him, and the two ships jerked then the wind caught the sails and soon they were moving again. "Merida! Eugene! Show the fresh to the rooms so they can make themselves at home." Hiccup called as he turned the helm a bit. Merida and Eugene smiled at him, before they walked own the Galley followed by Tadashi, Hiro and Tip. With some help their hammocks were put up, and their stuff, that wasn't so much, was put under or on the hammock.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Arendelle was covered in a blanket of newly fallen leaves the trees were covered in a light cover of frost and everything was sparkling faintly in the still warm sunlight.  
Olaf walked over the city ground followed by a group a five small snowgies; that ran after him like ducklings. Over them a small cloud made the air around them stay cold to keep them from melting in the sunlight. He just laughed at them but stopped when he looked up from a strange feeling that suddenly grew inside of him, he looked out over the cold waters nothing, a strong gust of cold wind blew him in the face and his shadow grew darker almost black before it kept moving towards the castle, making the shadows of people and other things that created a shadow, turn darker for a short moment, as if it was playing hide and seek with the sun.  
It entered the door to the castle moving along the walls, before it entered the room where the queen was sitting with papers and other duties that a queen had to take care of. Candles brunt in the room, her head hung tiredly towards the papers, she held it up with one hand; in the other she held a feather pen taping it against the bottle of ink in boredom. The candles suddenly flickered as from a gust of wind that wasn't there.  
Elsa jolted and yellow flashed over her otherwise blue eyes, the feather pen become covered with ice and the ground around her chair along with it to become covered with a thick layer of ice and frost, but it was distorted and uneven as it become when she was afraid. She blinked, the yellow turned to something that looked like glitter in front of her; she dropped the pen and got to her feet, placing one hand at her face in a gasp of air.  
Memories that she feared most flashed thru her mind those times when Anna had gotten hurt because of her, they turned even worse than they were and all her memories with fear in them turned darker and worse. She backed away gasping for air in uneven breaths, her heart pounded in her chest, as if it wanted to break out of its cage.  
She didn't hear how the darker shadow laughed when she left the room in a hurry, snow and frost covered the walls and ground as she ran out from the castle, past Anna who called out her name in confusion; but to the queen, she only heard her sister screamed out in fear…

The waves made the black ship sway and the sails fluttered in the wind but even so it moved slowly, in no hurry.  
Jack stood with his arms resting against the railing, he looked out over the ocean with lifeless eyes, hope lost and if he spoke, his voice was hoarse and nothing more than a faint whisper. Dark circles under his eyes from exhaustion and he tumbled now and then when he walked, as if he didn't really know where his feet were. The taste of the food Nicholas had made for him and the crew along with the memories from the Night Fury had all faded to a blur and overtaken by the poor taste of dry bread. He looked down at his hands, did he really have the power's himself, wasn't it the staff who held them? According to Eret he had frozen the entire room in his sleep, in a way to cool the fever down, Eret thought, Jack closed his hands before he held out one hand and concentrated, he noticed his the air round his hand started to haze but nothing more, he tried again and a distorted snowflake appeared in front of his hand along with glittering frozen drops in the air.

Pitch looked out over the horizon with his yellow eyes, scanning the waters, he growled when he saw it, the ship, and he knew the crew on-board when he saw the flag. He cursed, that captain was harder to kill than he first thought, but even he wouldn't be able to survive a frozen heart, if he only could get the captain to meet the ice queen and get her to do her magic everything would be fine, he cast a glance towards Jack, he was NOT to know the crew was still alive, if he knew, then he might try and run away a again, Pitch hummed, scheming what to do and how to handle possible U-turns to his favour. That was when he saw it, the snowflake that was created in front of Jack's hand. A big and evil smile grew on his lips, and he cast a glance towards Drago.  
A dark chuckle left him as he walked away, be ready Drago, Soon you will fall. Eret gave the tall man a worried glance, what was he planning to do?

Merida louvered her binocular and glared towards the northeast; where the black show was moving.

"I see the Nightmare Dragon!" she called out. "We're catching up." Hiccup looked up to her, before he looked towards the northeast.

"How far left to Arendelle?" he asked. Rapunzel looked up from the map she held out on the table, Tip stood next to her observing and learning; Rapunzel had shown her that you didn't need scholarship to be a grate doctor, and she wanted to know everything the blond woman knew.

"About three days." Rapunzel replied giving Hiccup a worried look, Hiccup grabbed the helm harder as he muttered some curses under his breath.

"Hiccup…" she said "We will get there and save him, we even have Tip, Hiro and Tadashi's help now and the Deadly Nadder, if they have hurt him I will- no I promise you, I will get him back to his feet again." Hiccup looked back at her and gave her a smile; she walked up to him placing her hand at his. "Even you need sleep, go to your cabin and get some; I will take care of things up here." He gave her a look and opened his mouth to voice an objection. "Doctor's orders." Rapunzel said, before he even got to voice anything, he just gave her a tired glare, before he sighed deeply.

"Nothing gets past you does it?" he said looking at her

"If we are going to save Jack, you need to have a clear head." She replied and smiled at him as he began to walk towards his cabin. Tip looked at her with big eyes.

"How did you know that Hiccup hasn't slept?" she asked, Rapunzel turned to her and smiled.

"I've known him for a long time, but I also think this entire situation is tearing at him mentally."

"Why? I mean, the one you want to save, Jack was it?" Rapunzel nodded "Was he taken by force or did he go on-board their ship by free will?"

"What are you trying to say, Tip?" Rapunzel asked looking at her.

"Well… I'm just wondering… you don't think he let himself be taken for you to stay safe?"

"That was what he did, yes, but they stabbed him in the back and attacked us, sinking our previous ship to the bottom of the ocean… for all I know… Jack might as well believe we are dead. He told us to forget about him. He knows he won't survive long after he brought that crew to where they want to go."

"And where's that?"

"The fountain of youth." Tip blinked opening her eyes big.

"The fountain of YOUTH?!" she cried out. "But- But it's only a legend! It's not real!"

"That was what we also believed Before Jack told us about it."

Hiccup sat down at his desk, he couldn't sleep, he knew he had to sooner or later, but his mind was filled with so many thought's that sleep was unthinkable. He picked up Jack's staff looking at it, it was a fine staff straight with the G like hook, he wondered how it been made, and also how the tree might have looked before it turned to a staff. He looked to the compass again the needle hung down, he picked it up and the needle did a spin, before it pointed to the northeast, he then thought for a moment, before he thought about wanting the Fountain of Youth, the needle did a spin before it pointed right towards the north Hiccup blinked before he looked to the small map he had next to him, what lied straight north from Arendelle? The only thing he saw was the edge of the map. The land Nicholas come from was drawn on it, it was more to the south than Arendelle, but further up North noting lied… he got to his feet. Let Rapunzel yell at him, he needed to know about this. He left the cabin and walked up to the helm where she stood, and he had bene right about her shouting at him.

"What are you doing up!" she cried out "Didn't I tell you to go to sleep!"

"Yes, you did." He said before he held up the compass to her. The needle didn't leave the north.

"Did they already leave Arendelle?" fear was in her voice.

"No, this are still moving towards Arendelle this is the direction of the fountain, but there's nothing up north after Arendelle, so were could the fountain possible be placed?" Rapunzel gave him a look he couldn't read, before she looked out over the ocean with a distant look in her eyes.

"There is this legend of a 'Neverland' it's not on any known map, but some say they have been there…" she spoke slowly as if she was unsure about what she said.

"Neverland?" she gave him a nod as she looked back to him.

"A place where you never grow up…"

An albino boy ran over the hills, grey pants and a to big dry grass coloured shirt with long arms that hung down over his hands and black marks of coal over his eyes and a line between his dark brown nearly black eyes, another boy, with purple and yellow paint on his boy ran after him with only a pair of blue pants with a purple belt, he had blue eyes and blond hair with the purple paint tangled in it.  
They ran towards a creek; water running from it in a clear blue colour.

Mist danced over the fields of grass as the higher land was flourishing in all the colours of the rainbow, but to get there, you had to cross the frozen desert; after all… this land lied under the thick layer of ice and snow.


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Pitch shoved him against the wall of the dim cabin, without a care in the world if he hurt the boy.

"Now why don't you show me this little magic trick of yours?" he said in a cold voice, eyes glowing yellow. Jack tried his best to fight back the fear that was flaring up in his chest, but his eyes were open wide and he felt his heart beat fasten.

"Wh-… what are you talking about _master_?" Jack wheezed out, Pitch gave him a dead panned look before he took a hard hold of Jack's right hand.

"That little stunt you did earlier, with you creating snow." He said and grinned showing his pointy teeth. Jack gave him a confused look, before he realized what Pitch was talking about and Pitch knew Jack had realized by the look on the boys face. "Show me." Pitch voice was soft, but in a bad way, he let go of Jack and took a step back giving Jack an observing look, Jack looked down at his slightly trembling hands, how had he done it the first time? "I'm waiting." Jack swallowed as he closed his eyes concentrating, he moved his fingers in an unsure movement as the air began to haze around his palms, he forced his teeth together and his eyebrows furrowed, soon a distorted and uneven snowflake began to fall towards the floor of the cabin it was followed by some others in different sizes, a pain began to grow in his hand, but also his chest as a strange feeling of loss grew inside him.  
Jack opened his eyes, a mistake, the snowflakes turned to water droplets that fell to the carpet in the cabin as a wave of exhaustion washed over him, making him collapse against the wall; to keep himself up on his feet, his head hung tiredly as he tried to get his blurry vision to clear.  
Pitch gave him a disapproving scowl, before he grabbed a hard hold of Jack shoulder slamming the still dizzy teen against the wall again. "That's all you can come up with?!" he hissed in anger nearly snarling at him, Jack stared at him in pure fright.

"I- I... there was this staff-" Jack said, having to swallow to continue to speaking. "…it was on the Night Fu-"

"Don't mention that crew's name in my presence!" Pitch roared showing him up against the wall so that his feet no longer reached the floor. "Now…" Pitch let go of the teen who slumped down to the floor, as he himself sat down on the chair crossing his legs and looked at Jack with eyes that could kill. "What about _this_ staff?" Jack opened his mouth, not sure where to start, before he began to explain about it; that it was the source of his powers, he thought. He never mentioned Toothiana and her island, even if he knew that Pitch could force him to spill all the beans with only a snap of his fingers. When he'd stopped talking a dark chuckle left Pitch lips, making all hairs on Jack's body stand on end and the blood in his veins to freeze. "All I need now is that staff and then I will take over this ship..." he laughed before he looked right at Jack with icy cold eyes "Don't-!" he said in a harsh voice but stopped and continued in a much softer voice, making all Jack's warning clocks ring "Don't tell the _captain_ about this." Jack lowered his head there he still sat on the floor.

"Yes _Master_ …" Pitch wafted for him to leave, and Jack stumbled out from the cabin a bit too fast for Pitch liking, but he didn't have time to teach the slave to behave right now.  
Pitch chuckled as he knotted his fingers, Drago may be victorious in power, but in brain; Pitch was so much grates, he got to his feet walking over to the window in the cabin.

"Your time has come, my dear _captain_. I'm going to take back **my** ship and _you_ are to turn to a frozen statue to be broken to tiny, tiny pieces and then thrown into the sea." Pitch took up a grape from the plate that stood there and moved it between his fingertips as he stood at the big window in the rear of the ship; he looked out over the waters thru the coloured glass. "But first, I got a Queen to deal with." An evil grin grew on his lips as he closed his eyes and let his powers dash towards Arendelle, the queen needed a touch of fear and be at his mercy for his plane to work.  
Hiccup was not going to bother him if he was frozen solid, and Jack was going to be his right; loyal and none questioning, hand.

All he had to do was to break the teen beyond repair for a full mind control.  
It was all to annoying, to control someone who fought back.

Hiccup groaned as he opened his eyes, something had woken him, he blinked ad first now noticed the faint blue light that was spreading in the dark cabin but the sunlight still shone in thru the curtains. He sat up in the bed turning his head and stared towards his desk, where Jack's staff lied; the normal dark wood was now glowing and sparkling in blue and frost was spreading from it. He swing his legs over the edge, not thinking about the prosthetic as he jumped on one leg to the desk picking up the staff; it was cold to the touch as the air around it hazed he recognized the glow and light from how it had looked when Jack had been holding the staff.  
Hiccup tried to understand why the staff glowed but before he got more time to think it stopped. He blinked giving away a confused sound, before he put it back on the desk, trying to get his thoughts together, why was the staff glowing when Jack wasn't holding in it? He jumped back towards the bed, not getting any smarter about the question. He lied down on the bed, resting his head over his arms staring up in the ceiling. He rolled to the side looking to the wall, the bed was empty expect for himself, he'd almost forgotten how big it was, he sat up giving away a groan stroking his hand over his face and stopping at his hair. " _Forget about me..._ " Jack's words echoed thru his head. He sighed deeply, what had the teen's facial expression been when he'd said those words? Hiccup let himself fall back in the bed.

Nicholas was serving the food to the crew; both Hiro and Tip had their hands full on eating the food, maybe a bit too fast, the big man just laughed at them.

"Calm down you two, there is enough food for everyone." Eugene said as he began to eat.  
Rapunzel she sat arm wrestling with Merida who was just as red as her hair from the strain she put in trying to get Rapunzel arm to just move!

"Are you even trying?" Rapunzel asked smiling at her

"Shut et." Merida growled out, before she with a growl gave up.

"I've wanted to ask..." Tadashi suddenly said. "Just... why did the Nightmare Dragon take Jack from you?" the crew all shared a glance before they looked to Tadashi, Hiro and Tip.

"That's right, ye three wasn't there." Aster said.

"You are part of crew now, you got to know truth." Nicholas said when he had served the crew, expect for Hiccup; who was in his cabin.  
Hiro and Tip stopped eating to look at them.

"Jack, he is a slave on that ship. We found him in the ocean after a mutiny." Rapunzel started "He became a member of this crew, and we could see that the two of them grew closer, even if it took some time for Hiccup to realize his feelings." Tadashi, Hiro and Tip listened, sometimes asking questions, but they kept talking about what they had done before Jack been taken away from them.

 _The ocean cave was dark and moist; the rocks were covered with algae and moss, water dropped from the stalactites in the top of the cave. A skinny man walked in it; a green lantern in his hand, making his pale beaten skin turn to a sickly green, but also make his thin form seem more like that of a living skeleton. The shadows moved and he also heard the sound on another being moving around. He wore a dirty black robe and pants, around his waist a red now more brown band went. His brown eyes scanned the cave as he stopped._

 _"_ _Witch! I know you're here!" he shouted, it echoed between the walls, some bubbles came from the pool of water that connected to the ocean. It didn't take long before a woman grey skin and white hair appeared from the waters she looked at him as she knotted her fingers and rested her elbows at the edge of the water._

 _"_ _What do you, a mortal want from me?" she asked a she gave him a bored look._

 _"_ _Power." She raised an eyebrow._

 _"_ _Oh~" she chuckled. Moving up from the waters, she was a mermaid, her tail; the one of an octopus, black tentacles moved under her as she moved over the wet stones. "You want power?" She smiled at him leaning over a pillar. "And what does a poor unfortunate soul, like yourself, want power for?" the man gave her a glare as he rose his hand in an attempt to hypnotise her, she just snorted at him, as one of her tentacles grabbed a hold of his wrist dragging him forward. "Now, here's the deal, I'll give you a medallion that will give you power beyond imagination, got that?" the man smiled as the two moved over to a strange formed stone, he didn't think much of the tentacles that was placed over his shoulder. "Now listen, this is important." She made him lean closer to the stone that opened up and showed to be a cauldron. "If you ever loose grip of the medallion, or if it's broken, you belong to me." He gave her a look. "Have we got a deal?"_

 _"_ _Power beyond imagination..." the man said as an evil smile grew on his dry lips._

 _"_ _Oh, there is one more thing, we haven't discussed the subject of payment; you can't get all that for noting you know."_

 _"_ _What do you want? Gold, silver, diamonds?" the man grinned at her. "I've got it."_

 _"_ _I'm not asking much, just a token really, a trifle you'll never miss it. What I want from you is." She let her tentacle be placed under the man's jaw to get him to look at her in the eyes. "Your soul."_

 _"_ _My what?"_

 _"_ _You got it sweet cakes" She chuckled._

 _"_ _But without my soul- how do you expect me to give you_ _ **my**_ _soul?!"_

 _"_ _That's right... life's full of tough choices isn't it." She chuckled. "Come on you poor unfortunate soul! Go ahead make your choice! I'm a very busy woman; I haven't got all day, it won't cost much just your soul!" the man gave her a glare. As a scroll of glowing yellow paper appeared in front of him, he stared at it, as he took the pen that floated next to it, and wrote his name in golden letters.  
Kozmotis Pitchiner_  
 _The witch laughed as she grabbed the scroll, as she threw the ingredients into the cauldron, it changed colours after every new ingredient and in the end a big cloud of smoke shot up from it, and she reached down her hand into the brew and took up a golden medallion, she fastened it to the red band. "My payment." She said as she placed her hand on his chest.  
His pale skin turned grey, the brown in his eyes turned yellow and the only thing left in his body was shadows and evil, all memories before this gone.  
He reached out his hand and the shadows followed his command.  
An evil laugh left his lips._

 _"_ _I will be invincible." He said in a laugh. The witch looked at him as she closed her cauldron and began to move towards the waters again, but she stopped just at the edge._

 _"_ _Oh right, there is one catch, the only thing stronger than the power I just gave you, is the force of true love." The man glared at her as she dove down into the dark waters._

 _"_ _True love? There is no such thing as_ _ **true**_ _love," he moved towards the shadows. "I will eliminate it." And disappeared into them._

The Nightmare Dragon entered the fjords of Arendelle in the dead of night; heavy snowflakes fell from the sky covering everything in a thick blanket of snow.  
Jack sat up from the bed, new bruises and scratches covered his pale body. Pitch had taken another round with him… he sighed, his breath turned to faint smoke in front of him in the chilly cabin, his throat hurt after his soundless screaming. He removed the blanked that Pitch so kindly thrown over him when he'd been done. He found his ankle bound to a rope fastened to one of the feet of the bed, as usual. He shivered there he sat, only the blanket as a cover from the cold air.  
A light knock on the door made him look up and soon he saw who it was. Eret walked inside, casting a glare out the door, towards someone Jack couldn't see from there he sat.

"By Oden's beard I want to slice his throat open…" Eret muttered still glaring towards the door as he placed the brick with some not so dry food, but also bandages for the worst damages Pitch made on the teen. He looked to Jack who was giving him a tired look. "How do you feel?" Jack just looked away lowering his head. Eret cursed the black haired man once again as he gave Jack a scanning glance, he needed to get away from here, but where? He was not going to be able to stay safe, until Pitch was out of the picture.

A faint pitched sound coming from Jack made Eret snap out from his thoughts, and he saw how the teen was pointing towards the floor with a wide motion, where his clothes was thrown carelessly, by the second in command. Eret picked them up and placed them on the bed, before he took and started to treat the worst wound the second in command given the teen in his force taking pleasure. Eret cast the snowflake necklace that Jack wore around his neck a glance, he took up the shirt. "That snowflake, you've had it for as long as I can remember, just where did you get it?" he helped Jack get the shirt on before he bended down to the floor taking up Jack's underwear and pants before he stood up again looked to Jack who had taken the snowflake in his hand.

"...don't remember..." he said in a hoarse voice. "...think my mother gave it to me when I was little..." Eret give him a sad look.

"So is it a family emblem?" Jack looks up to him before he let's go of the snowflake that falls back to his upper chest.

"I... don't know... we are called _Frost_... but if we have a snowflake as our emblem I don't know." Eret shrugged as he took out his knife and in a careful movement, not to hurt Jack's ankle he cut the rope apart, before he helped the teen stand and help him keep his balance as he took on his underwear and pants.

"We'll reach Arendelle tomorrow... why we're making a stop there I don't know." Eret said as he let go of Jack who swayed a bit, before he got his balance under control. "There's no moon tonight, it's perfect for an escape."

"What..?" Jack's head jerked up to stare at him in shock. "But- what good will that, do? I can't run away from this!" He said grabbing Eret's arms giving him a week shake. "I'm trapped! No matter where I go, how far I run, I won't get away!" Eret gave him a look, the teen had actually given up about his freedom, and Eret realised, he'd lost it a long time ago, when the Night Fury been sunken to the ocean floor in a cascade of fire. He had noticed Pitch change in atmosphere at a sudden day, and he now knew why, he had seen the ship that was moving not so far away from them, the ship with the crew.

"They're still alive Jack." Eret said in a calm voice. Jack's eyes opened wide and he gave away a choked gasp for air.

"No their not!" he showed Eret away with trembling hands.

"They're alive." Eret said again. Anger flashed thru Jack's eyes before he hit his hands against Eret's chest.

"Their GONE!" he shouted his voice broke and turned hoarse. His eyes teared up and he let his head land against Eret's chest. "Their… gone…" Eret sighed as he placed his hands on Jack's shoulders sinking down so that he was in eye level with Jack, looking into the teens two coloured eyes.

"The crew of the Night Fury is not dead, the ship may have sunken, but they are not dead, the flag is still waving."

"What are you doing Hiro?" Hiccup asked as she walked over to the black-haired boy who was sitting with Merida's Arrows and some of Aster's egg bombs around him in a mess.

"If the Nightmare Dragon is the enemy, then I believe some upgrades are needed."

"Are you sure, I hope for your own sake you asked for their permission first, they are quite attacked to their weapons."

"I did." Hiro didn't look up, Hiccup gave him a scanned look, before he smiled and sank down in front of the kid.

"Need help?" Hiro looked up at him in confusion.

"Ah… I don't think I do…" Hiccup took up one egg bomb and one of Merida's arrows.

"So, how do you plan to upgrade these?" Hiro looked down at the arrow and bomb in his hands.

"Well… I thought that maybe if they are combined…"

"Explosive arrows." Hiccup said in something that sounded like awe. "I have had my thoughts about it myself, but I never made any progress, well I do think I have some sketches somewhere about how I thought about how it would work, when I still had it in mind…" Hiccup hummed and had a thoughtful face, before he got to his foot. "Maybe the fire destroyed it…" he looked at Hiro who was staring at him with big eyes. "Just how are you planning to combine them?" a smile grew on Hiro's lips when he realised Hiccup didn't say no to his thoughts, but instead encouraged him to do it, and also offered himself to help, if he needed it. They were in a deep discussion about how to get the egg bombs and the arrows to work together when Tadashi came walking talking to Aster about something. And soon the duo of thought's turned to a quartet. And in the end they already had an idea about what the arrow dad to look like, the only thing to do now, was to see what Merida would say about it, after all, she were the one who knew how to handle the bow and arrow better than anyone of the two crews.  
When they had told her about it, she replied by giving them an almost irritated glare, before she sighed and held the arrow they had made as a test in her hand.

"It's too heavy in the front." She said. "Et's not balanced." She grunted as she showed them the arrow nearly fell to the floor as she did so, but she caught it before it hit. "Do you really need so much gunpowder?"

"Ay, or else it won't explode." Aster replied.

"Fine, get it more balanced then we might talk about it again." She returned the arrow before she climbed up the crow's nest.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Eret looked at him before he sighed tiredly got to his feet; took the plate of food before he looked out the rear window. The snow was still falling, but not as much as before. He gave Jack the plate with food; dry bread and water; that was almost frozen… Jack didn't complain as he took the piece of bread and began to eat, but a shiver wracked thru him when he drank the water, but he took it all.

"Jack…" he suddenly began; Jack looked at him over the brim of the glass, sending him a confused look and a questioning sound. Eret just looked at him, before he looked to the rear window again taking in the surroundings around it, before a smile crept onto his lips as he walked to it, moving a bit before he opened the window as much as it could, a cold wind hit into the room, Eret louvered his head to not get the snowflakes in his eyes, he heard Jack give away a unhappy sound, as he looked back Jack was sitting hugging around himself staring at Eret with an unamused glare. Eret leaned out the window looking up to where the helm of the ship was; he heard Drago talk to someone, was it Dagur or Gothel he talked to? Eret shook his head before he took out a rope, bound it around the lower stile between the two windows that he'd open. Before he opened one of the chests next to the window and emptied it, before he bound the handle to the rope. Jack got to his feet, walking over towards Eret, staggering a bit but manages to keep himself up.

"What are you doing?" he hissed. " _Master_ will kill you if he finds out about this." Eret looked at him heaving up the chest by the rope.

"May so be… but he won't get his hands on you at least." Eret threw the chest out the open window, holding the rope right, as he slowly let it down until it was in the water. Jack stared at him.

"What… Wait? What do you mean by that?" Jack said slowly backing away. "I already told you-"

"Just shut up for a moment." Eret hissed as he checked out the window once again, Jack stayed silent. He then turned to Jack placing his hands on the so much thinner boy's shoulders giving him a light shake. "I know you. But listen to me for once, if you stay here, you will get killed! Not the fast and merciful way, slow, painful and without mercy, Pitch doesn't give a crap about you, and neither does Drago. They only want the information you have for their own egoism, I told you once and I will tell you again. The crew of the Night Fury are still alive, and their on their way, so I order- no… I beg you to please get of this ship before it's too late, there's no moon tonight, and the snow will hide your steps and sent, please Jack." Jack just stared at him before his eyes trailed out to the window, then down to the floor before they looked back into Eret's brown orbs. "Please Jack, I will give you time. You just have to keep the hope up and believe in me." Jack looked to the side.

"I've lost my hope long ago…" he mumbled out before he looked to Eret and gave him a weak smile. "But I won't stop believing."

"Punch me." Jack's eyes flashed to him and Eret could read the shock in them.

"What?!"

"It must seem as if you put up a fight." Eret said in an urging voice. "Punch me hard in the face anywhere." Jack just stared at him before he hit Eret, his punch landed on Eret's left eye; Eret staggered backwards some steps hissing in pain, and Jack was about to start apologizing when Eret cut him off

"You have to go now, before Pitch returns." Eret said and helped him over the windowsill, Jack keeps a tight hold of the rope, hooking his legs around it, he looks down at the dark black water with a hint of fear in his eyes, as he looks back up to Eret, the man had started to get a black eye. "It will be okay. I will keep them busy." Eret casts him a smile and Jack gives him a stiff nod, as he lets himself slide down to the chest Eret louvered in the water earlier. He looked up just in time to see Eret's sword slash the rope of and Jack almost falls of the chest at the sudden stop of motion. Eret gives him a last look before he closes the windows.  
Jack felt a shiver wrack thru him as the wind grabbed around him, making his brown hair hit him in the face, he shook his head, before he started to paddle towards the shore with his hands, it was cold at first, but to his surprise he started to feel less cold, but still not the dangerously feeling that hypothermia caused, was these strange powers of his making him able to stand the cold better? He got to the shore after some struggling and a faint layer of frost at this wrists, he brushed it away and started to walk, hit feet sank down in the snow, and he felt the cold sensation hit him harder than the water, and he shivered so he forced himself to walk, wasn't even sure where he was, nor where he was supposed to go… he might even die out here! Why hadn't he thought about taking on a pair of shoes or a thicker cloak?! God he was going to freeze to death out here!

He had snow everywhere possible, and he had lost most of his feeling in his feet, hands and face, that was when he saw the light from a window, and he walked closer, a sign hung at a small staircase covered in snow, Jack reached up and pushed it, the snow fell down and the sign read: wandering Oakes's trading post.  
Jack opened the door to the small hut, it gave away a squeak. Oh it was warm inside~ he looked around when the door closed behind him hugging around himself as he stamped most of the snow of him, sending tingles from his numb feet.

"Yoo hoo~" a voice suddenly called from his left, he looked to the side to see a man sitting at a desk smiling at him. "Big summer blowout." He said smiling bigger as he started to ramble some of the products for sale; Jack just gave him a blank look.

"Ah… no, thanks…" he asked "What about boots, winter boots … and a jacket or coat for that matter?" he said, starting to regain most of his feeling in his feet.

"That would be in our winter department." The man said gesturing to the far wall of the house. Jack looked there to see a small gather of clothes and boots, even snowshoes… not that he would need them… Jack walked over to the winter department, and found a pair of furry boots, and a cloak that reminded him of Hiccup's; the memory of Hiccup getting shot flashed thru his mind and he cringed at the memory and took a brown poncho instead. He walked over to the desk.

"That would be 40." The man said, and Jack flinched.

"Wha-" he suddenly started before he looked out thru the window it was snowing heavier now than before, he looked back to the man who still smiled at him, glad he got to sell anything. "I'm sorry… but I don't have anything…" the man scanned him with a look, smile never leaving his face. Jack sighed as he made himself ready to put the things back. "I'll just wait till it stops snowing…" but the man reached out his hand and placed it on the clothes and boots.

"Now, now, child." The man said "Once it start's snowing it can take up to a week before it stops, Ja." He pushed the clothes and boots towards Jack. "Take them. You need them." Jack gave him a shocked look before he smiled at the man.

"Thank you."

Eret turned from the window when the door was thrown open and Pitch walked inside.

"You out." He said in a harsh voice, before he stopped dead in his tracks noticing that his slave was not in the room. His yellow eyes snapped to the bed, and then to Eret and back to the bed, before he saw that one of the chests was missing, and the cut rope at the window and the bed. Anger flared thru him as the shadows grew darker in the room. "Where is he?" Pitch asked in a voice dripping over with anger. Eret opened his mouth to answer but before he even managed a sound Pitch had his throat in a tight hold.  
Eret was thrown to the deck outside the cabin; he coughed as he filled his lounges with the frosty air.

"Pitch what's the meaning of this?" Drago say's in a dangerous voice there he stands at the helm glaring t Pitch and Eret who scrambles to his feet.

" **Your** slave here let _Jack_ escape!" Pitch shouted, his eyes burning in anger. "I **believe** he **helped** him do so as well."

"I only did what was right; you would have killed him before we even got to the fountain!" Eret spat back, Pitch eyes flashed to him and he raised a hand, Eret stiffened as he felt his control over his body disappear.

"I will tell you something Eret." Pitch said in a growl as he forced Eret down to his knees. "All we need from that brat is his knowledge, if he end up as nothing more than skin and bone is not my problem." Eret glared back at him, before he gave away a laugh.

"You won't be able to keep your hands on him." He said "I won't let you steal his life away!"

"SILENCE!" Pitch shouted as he snapped his fingers. Getting the attention from two men who moved towards them, they were noting but bone and skin. "Take him to the lockup. And throw away the key." Eret glared as he was forced up from the deck by the men, for being noting than living skeletons they were strong, all thanks to Pitch mind control. Eret saw in the corner of his vision how Dagur had a mad grin on his lips and was trying not to laugh.

"Hiccup…" Astrid said looking at Hiccup, as the two ships entered the fjord of Arendelle. "But if the fountain isn't placed in Arendelle then why are they making a stop here?"

"I don't know… to tell you the truth I don't know anything about the fountain." Hiccup said giving away a shrug. Sanderson walked over to them signing them that he knew something about the fountain, he started slow at first, before his signs grew so fast that Hiccup was unable to follow them, but Astrid saw each of the signs and translate it in her own head, when he was done she smiled.

"Thanks Sanderson." She said.

"What did he say?" Hiccup looked at her in confusion, "I only got the first about a tear…"

"The Fountain of Youth has its powers on its own but you need to drink form it daily to stay young, which means you can't leave it if you've spent hundred years by its side, you will die the next day." Hiccup raised an eyebrow at her.

"Then what good will it does to the Nightmare Dragon?"

"I was getting to that." Astrid said. "According to what Sanderson knows; is there a way to stay young for a long time, by having someone trading you, their life." Astrid thought for a moment. "For example, if we have an old person around the age of 90 and a young person if the old person decides to trade its life to the young person the young person will stay the same age for 90 years."

"Okay… and how does this whole trading thing works?"

"You need the three chalices of Winter Rose. The tear from a broken heart, blood form a healer and then the water from the fountain."

"Why three chalices?"

"One chalice takes life; one chalice stretches life the third retrieve life…"

The door made form metal bars was thrown shut behind him and locked, and just as Pitch had told them the key was thrown away. Eret growled when he saw how Pitch walked up to the door, arms behind his back and an annoyed twitch in the corner of his eyes, but other than that noting showed of his anger.

"You won't win this, Pitch." Eret growled and grabbed the half rusty metal bars. "The Night Fury is on its way, and you know it. They won't let go of him a second time." A mad smile crept onto Pitch's lips.  
"I just have to kill that captain and noting will be in my way, you on the other hand should learn not to meddle in my business." Eret growled, but it turned to a groan in pain when Pitch grabbed hard around his jaw, not in a way to trying to choke him, he looked into Eret's eyes.  
" _You won't interfere anymore._ "  
He said in a cold voice, as a yellow glow appeared in Eret's pupils before it flashed into his brown irises and lingered there, making his eyes turned a slight hint more yellow than brown, but if you didn't know, you saw no difference.  
 *** * ***


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

The Bewilderbeast docked in the outside of the city, next to the Deadly Nadder.  
It didn't snow anymore, but the once beautiful autumn landscape was now covered in a thick layer of snow.  
Aster shivered there he stood arms crossed over his naked chest.

"Take on something or you will end up with frostbites!" Rapunzel said to him as she fixed her furry coat to get more comfortable around her. He muttered something in reply and walked into the galley and into the boy's room; where Nicholas was digging thru the chest; with winter clothes that Eugene had manage to save from the Night Fury's wreck.

"…to big… absolutely to big…" Nicholas muttered as he looked for some thicker clothes for Hiro and Tadashi, Tadashi had gotten to borrow one of Eugene's coats and Nicholas was currently searching for something for Hiro. After a while he gave away a triumphant "aha!" and gave the kid a thick poncho. Aster walked over to the chest.

"Can ye find me anything, freezing my nipples off in this weather?" Nicholas looked up at him raising an eyebrow before he chuckled and took up a thick jacket that belonged to the Pooka.

Hiccup looked towards the snow covered city, the castle stood out from the town, tall and beautiful, he let his eyes scan the aria, but he didn't see the black ship anywhere, he looked down at his compass the arrow did a spin before it pointed towards the northeast, his thought's then went to Jack and he blinked when the Arrow didn't stay in the same direction, but turned to the east. He stared at it turning it in his hands, but the arrow didn't change its position, keeping to point towards the east.

"Jack…" he mumbled out, Toothless walked up to him and nuzzled his head against Hiccup's leg, earning a pat on the head in return.

They had split up, to see if anyone in the city had seen the black ship, or perhaps even Jack, since it was clear he wasn't on the ship anymore. But no one knew anything. So in the end they had decided to do some shopping for the three newcomers to the crew, more clothes, but also things they needed, or to Rapunzel's delight some sweet's that made the two kids beam, even Tadashi gave her a warm smile as thanks.

"This is really not needed..." Hiro said as he hugged the new poncho around him, Tadashi sigh a smile, a cloud creating from his breath and Tip looked at him chuckling, Rapunzel looked back at him and smiled she heard Hiro mutter something under his breath about not needing it, and that she didn't have to waste her money on them, she ignored his mutters as her eyes roamed over the city ground and then caught the brown mop of hair that she recognised so well.  
She stopped walking blinking, not sure if it was him or if she was imagining it, brown hair and pale skin, a brown poncho and thick boots, might be someone else, but she was certain about it when she called out his name.

"Jack!" she must have startled the boy; by the way his head shot up and the familiar brown and blue eye stared at her in confusion at first before his expression and body language turned to someone who just seen a ghost, stiff and frightened. She hurried towards him, and she saw that he was trying his best to form something to say, but only incoherent words left his lips, before she took his hands in hers and she beamed at him like a ray of sunlight. "I thought I never get see you again, thank the sun you're alright." She frowned on the inside at the sight of the bruises on him, but she was to glad to let her worry for the boy get the better of her. She hugged around him tightly. And that was when Jack managed to get his mouth to do as he wanted.

"Ra- Rapunzel?!" he said in a confused, but also frightened voice, as if he had trouble believing she was there at all. He had seen the ship sink and been told no one of them survived… there was NO way! She was here now hugging him. She let go of him and held her hands on his shoulders, far too thin for her liking, she was going to get Nicholas to cook a feast.

"Yeah, it's me… have you forgotten already?" she looked into those eyes, that had grown less lively since she last seen them. He blinked at her question, before he shook his head and looked away.

"Wha- no… I just- the ship- I thought… no I believed…" he mumbled before he looked at her again, for a short moment. "I was told there were no survivors… I-" she placed her finger over his mouth giving him a half-hearted glare.

"Don't finish that sentence." She said. "No one of us is gone, we are all alive, and we even gotten some new recruits." She turned to Tadashi, Hiro and Tip: who had moved towards them. "This is Tadashi and his little brother Hiro and Tip." Rapunzel introduced them with a smile. Jack stared at them. "And this is Jack." Rapunzel said to them.  
Tadashi smiled as he held out his hand; Jack took it after a slight bit of hesitating.

"Glad to meet you, Jack." Jack gave him a stiff nod in return. "Your dad told us quite a lot about you." Jack blinked and Rapunzel noticed how he grew pale.

"He passed by their island when he looked for- you know." Rapunzel said making Jack look at her. "Oh-" Rapunzel's eyes opened wide and she smiled big. "Wait till Hiccup meet's you, he's been worried sick."

"Hiccup..?" Jack looked at her, and she saw worry in his eyes, before he looked away.

"He never gave up on you." She said reassuring. "Not once." Jack looked back up at her and she saw that he had trouble believing her words.

Anna moved uneasy left and fourth in the room, Olaf, Sven and Kristoff looked at her in worry.

"We need to do something! I never seen her so- so afraid before." Anna said looking at them, stopping for a short moment.

"We don't even know where she went." Kristoff said shrugging, but even he was worried about the queen.

"Why not look in her ice castle…" Olaf said looking at her.

"Good idea!" she said. "We leave right now."

"Now?"

"Yes! Now."

Hiccup sighed as he sat down on a bench, Astrid stood next to him, and Stormfly and Toothless played around in the snow.

"We'll never find him here." Astrid said. "For all we now, they could have dumped his dead body, and kept going." That earned her a frown.

"Please, Astrid, don't say that." Hiccup sighed; his shoulder's sagging as he looked down at the compass: the arrow spinning around; he wasn't sure what he wanted. "Let's just hope the others have better luck than we do." Astrid sighed and looked out over the city and the people of Arendelle that moved around dressed in thick cloths to keep the cold away, as it started to snow again, big snowflakes, falling form above, most hurried inside in their respective homes, but other's stayed outside.

The snow roared around the dale between the mountains, blowing hard and cold, Elsa hugged around herself, not because of the cold, but because if the fear that flared in her chest. Her pale hair blew in the wind. Snow made it hard to see, but she stopped walking when a dark shadow suddenly stood in front of her, she only saw the yellow of his eyes.

"I've been expecting you." The shadow said in a cold voice. She looked at him, the fear growing stronger.

"Who are you?" she asked taking a step back. A chuckle came from the shadow.

"Who I am is not for you to know, but listen to me when I tell you this." She saw how the shadow moved its arm. "You are to kill the captain of the Night Fury, _my queen_." Yellow absorbed her blue eyes; she took a shocked gasp for air, as the storm stopped abrupt, the snowflakes freezing still in the air.


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Anna hurried out from the castle, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf hurrying after her.

"Anna! Please we can't just storm over to her castle, we don't even know if she's there or not!" Kristoff said getting to Anna's side and tried to get her to slow down.

"We can't just sit here and do nothing: my sister's out there; and knowing her powers, who knows what will happen! You know what happened last time she ran away because of fear."

"She turned summer to winter…" Anna gave him a sharp nod. "That is why we _need_ to calm down and think about what to do, the best I can think of is if we can figure out what made her run away to begin with."

"She was afraid… but I don't know what would scare her like that, she even seemed to be afraid of me." Kristoff thought for a moment, they stopped at the end of the road that went to the castle. The citizen said hello to them when they passed.

Sven got his eyes on a black panther and parrot that played around in the snow and blinked those animals was rarely here, he buffed Kristoff on the shoulder and nodded towards the two animals.

"A panther, what is a panther doing here?" Kristoff said confused. The Panther had an ice stickle in its mouth dancing round as it drew in the snow, the parrot sat in the middle squawking happily, or just jumping up in the air to avoid getting in the way.

"Aw!" Anna cried out, getting the animals attention, it looked at them with green eyes tilting its head, the parrot landed on its back giving away a squawk.

"I have never seen a panther act like that..." Olaf said.

"Olaf, you've never seen a panther." Both Kristoff and Anna said at once, Olaf laughed in reply.

Hiccup sighed as he stretched out his prosthetic leg giving the flesh that met the wood a light massage, the cold was not to his liking, but he was glad his prosthetic was wood and not metal, he had tried different types at first, but Rapunzel had banned the metal leg after the first winter when both he and Toothless almost got some terrible frostbites where it connected to the skin; because of the metal, that turned even colder in the freezing air.

"You okay?" Astrid asked looking at him.

"Yeah." He nodded and got to his feet. "So shall we keep looking?"

"Okay, but I don't see the point…" Astrid sighed.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called out, it didn't take long before the panther came running with...  
wait...  
was that a snowman on his back?

Hiccup stared at the laughing snow on the back of the panther, Toothless stopped in front of him tail wagging and a big glee on his face, revealing all his sharp teeth.

"Hiccup… What is that?" He hears Astrid ask, and he sees in the corner of his vision how she's pointing at the snowman.

"Hello! I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs." The snowman suddenly says. Astrid gives away a screech and hit's Olaf's head away with the flat side of her axe as Hiccup calls out her name in shock.  
The body falls of Toothless and runs after the head. It doesn't take long before the snowman returns smiling. "Pheu~ I feel a bit light headed." Astrid still has a grip of her axe and she is staring at the snowman in a mixture of fear and confusion. But Hiccup takes her axe away before she does any more damage.

"Olaf was it right?" a nod "How are you a… snowman… alive?"

"Elsa made me."

"Elsa?" Olaf nodded and opened his mouth to speak when a female voice called out his name. He turned around and Hiccup looked up to find a brown haired, blue eyed woman walking towards them, followed by a blond man and a reindeer.

The rest of the crews and found Hiccup and Astrid, where they were talking with Anna, Kristoff and Olaf, the only ones still missing from the crew were Rapunzel, Tadashi, Tip and Hiro.

Hiccup was currently talking with Anna and Kristoff about how it was that Olaf could move around and be… well… alive, Anna had told them about her sister's powers, and was just about to mention her sudden runaway when a female voice shouted out.

"There you are! It was hard to find you." Hiccup turned around to find Rapunzel walking towards him, ahead from the trio.

"Any luck?" Hiccup asked as she got up to him, he was ready for a no, or a sad excuse, but Rapunzel just beamed and walked to the side before she gestured towards the trio.

"Look who I found!" she said, grinning from ear to ear. Hiccup felt his heart lurch when his eyes landed on Jack.

"Jack…" Hiccup breathed out. The teen turned his head at the mention of his name and just stared at Hiccup in the same way he had stared at Rapunzel not so long ago.

"He's still a bit spooked about the fact that we're alive…" Rapunzel said only loud enough for Hiccup to hear. He gave her a barely noticed nod, as he moved slowly towards Jack as if he was afraid he was going to scare the teen away.  
Jack stared at him, eyes wide, and the colour of his eyes clearly visible; his brown eye turning to a honey colour as his blue turned to the sky because of the setting sun.

"Jack." Hiccup said again, a bit more strength behind his voice this time. Jack opened his mouth to speak, but a sudden ticklish feeling in his nose made him sneeze instead, and a cloud of frost and ice exploded around them, when it cleared Hiccup stood frozen to the ground staring up at his hair that was covered by snow and frost. Jack gave away a shocked yelp, staring at him before he stared down at his hands, that gave away that strange tingling feeling as always when he used his powers without the staff… he herd gasps around him, and everyone was staring at him, Merida looked at him in a mixture of shock, fear and a very faint bit of hate. Hiccup moved his hands to his hair and brushed the snow away. "Whoa…" he looked at Jack who still stared at his hands. "Jack! That was amazing!" Hiccup called out in a laugh. Jack looked up at him, he didn't look as sure about what just happened.

"I… ah…" his lips was starting to grow into a smile, and a laugh broke away from his throat as a big glee spread across his face

"You're amazing!" Hiccup said again and before Jack could react, took a hold of his hips and lifted him up in the air spinning around. Jack gave away a yelp griping Hiccup's wrist and shoulder.  
The next moment he was hugged tight, he winched a bit from the bruises, but that was a pain he could stand at the moment as he snuggled his face into Hiccup's chest, hugging him back tightly.

He was back  
He was safe

He was Home.

Eret cursed as he kicked at the iron bars of the door, but they didn't budge. He growled as he walked back to the wall, and sat down on the floor, he growled again as a laugh reached his ears and he saw Dagur stand outside the door.

"What do you want?"

"You really got in the dirt this time." Dagur said and grinned as he leaned against the door. "I'm surprised Drago hasn't killed you jet." Eret glared at him.

"What do you want, Dagur?" he asked again in a cold voice.

"Nothing." He teen said and waved his hand in a nonchalant motion, before he stood up on his own feet. "You really disappoint me, Eret." That was all he said before he left. Eret glared at the door for a long moment before he growled and crossed his arms over his chest. Haunt all you want kid, in the end this means nothing he thought. Sleep started to tug at him and just before he drifted of he hoped Jack was safe.

Elsa walked slowly thru the snow; the storm swirling aggressively around her, her eyes glowed bright in yellow as she mumbled out the order Pitch had given her _"Kill the captain of the Night Fury."_ And with it she had gotten a vision: a man brown hair and black cloak, more did she not know.

Her body hurt, like she was held under water by a strong and cold iron hand that held her head harder than needed. It hurt to breath and she didn't feel her limbs she only felt her far to slow heartbeats that pained her chest and the hoarse sound of her wheezing breaths. The world was a blurry red haze and she was so very much afraid.

"Ice powers..." Anna gasped when she saw what happened after the teen sneezed, they weren't as controlled as her sisters, which only meant he didn't know how to control them. She shook her head to sort her thoughts as she looked at Hiccup again. "Captain." She said once the teen was put down on the ground again, and both Hiccup and Astrid turned around.

"Yes?" both of them said.

"As I was saying... my sister has ice powers, just like your friend there... I didn't think it was possible... but anyway." She looked at Hiccup. "I would gladly let you meet her, but she ran away in fright, and I don't know where she ran away to."

"Why did she run away to begin with?" Astrid asked

"I don't know... since she's the queen she has responsibilities to take care of, and she was working on some papers when she suddenly ran away... I've never seen her that afraid... and for some reason... I'm not sure if I imagined it or not... but her eyes were yellow." Jack stiffened there he stood.

"Oh no..." he mumbled out. Everyone turned to him.

"Jack, what's wrong?" Rapunzel asked place her hand on his shoulder; he flinched and stared at her wyes full of fear.

"He- _Master_ -" Jack stammered out, he didn't know what to say. Hiccup looked at him with worried eyes. Jack groaned and moved his hands to his hair. "He wants to kill you..." Jack looked right at Hiccup when he said this. Hiccup sighed before he spoke.

"He hasn't succeeded till now, so what makes you believe he will in the future?" Jack looked away grabbing his arms instead.

"...I don't..."

"I've got no plans on dying, and I won't get killed by his hands..." Jack looked at him again.

"But what about someone, _controlled_ by his hand?" Hiccup heard the strain in Jack's voice, no matter how much Hiccup had tried to forget it; he could still remember Jack's hands around his throat and Pitch voice haunting him with Jack's breaths.

They had gathered in the ballroom in the castle for the night. Nicholas and Sanderson helped out in the kitchen with the personnel. A feast was thrown because Nicholas had noticed how thin Jack looked, but also his love for food played a big part in it. Kristoff and Rapunzel played some music with the musicians from the city some help from Merida who had a face of someone who rather do anything but play on an instrument. Laughter and conversations among the crews but also with Anna and Olaf was going on, Tadashi, Hiro and Tip was eating as much as they could, a bit too fast, but they had learnt that if there was food and you got to eat as much as you wanted then you ate till you couldn't stomach anymore, all because of their lack of money growing up. Jack on the other way ate slowly and was fighting back the tears as he ate the delicious food. And as the night grew later the less the worry and anxiousness he had ceased.

A warm fuzzy feeling spread in him; he was surrounded by friends and those that loved him for who he was, rather than what was carved into his back. A smile was on his lips when the music stopped for a moment, and when it started again it changed completely. Someone then began to whistle, and Jack turned his head around to see how Hiccup was walking towards him hands behind his back and a face filled with love as he whistled the song Jack heard the tunes of so long ago. Then he began to sing, his voice was calm but the love was strength in it.

"I'll swim and sail on savages seas... with no fear of drowning." He smiled "And gladly ride the winds of life... if you will stay beside me." He stopped reaching his hands for Jacks. "No scorching sun or freezing cold will stop me at my journey..." he smiled "If you will promise me your heart... and love me for eternity..."


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

"I'll swim and sail on savages seas... with no fear of drowning." He smiled "And gladly ride the winds of life... if you will stay beside me." He stopped reaching his hands for Jacks. "No scorching sun or freezing cold will stop me at my journey..." he smiled "If you will promise me your heart... and love me for eternity..." Jack just stared at him... he saw how Rapunzel made a small 'go on' motion with in the background, and that was when Jack realized they were waiting for him to continue... crap.

"I... ah... I don't- I can't sing..." he said giving Hiccup an apologetic look as he freed his hands from Hiccup's hold.

"Nonsense." Hiccup said "I've heard you sing." Jack took a deep breath

"My dearest one my darling deer..." by the moon that sounded cheesy! Jack scowled inwardly, but in the end he threw it out the door and let his heart decide on the worlds instead, he looked up to look into Hiccup's eyes. "Your might words astound me but I no need for mighty deeds when I feel you arms around me." Hiccup laughed and his face lit up in love.

"But I will brings you rings of gold and even sing you poetry." Hiccup sang in reply and Jack gave him a surprised look at Poetry. "And I will keep you from all harm if you will stay beside me."

"I have no use for rings of gold, I care not for you poetry." Jack took Hiccups hands this time "I only want your hand to hold-"

"I only want you near me!" The music played louder this time and everyone had a smile on their lips. As Hiccup began to dance leading Jack along with him, and Jack fell into the dance without any problem

"To love and kiss to sweetly hold, for the dancing and the dreaming, through all life's sorrows and delights I'll keep your laugh inside me~" they both sang. "I'll swim and sail a savage seas with never a fear of drowning and gladly ride the winds so white if you will marry me!" They had ended up in the middle of the room; Merida laughed clapping her hands while Rapunzel beamed like a proud mama bird.

Jack closed his eyes and let his head fall to Hiccup's chest. This was fine... he felt how Hiccup moved a bit before placing his chin over his head, in a loving manner even from the animals perspective.

"I love you... and there is no changing that." Hiccup murmured. Jack smiled giving away a nod and a hum.

Drago walked across the snow-covered ground Alpha walked next to him. The trees were covered by spiky ice and behind the soft dunes were sharp horizontal spikes.

"So exactly where is the Winter Rose, captain?" Gothel asked as she hugged the dark mantel around herself. Drago stopped at a hill looking in front of them, he didn't answer Gothel's question.

The landscape in front of them was a cave all made from ice, snow lied here and there where it wasn't blown away. Ice stickles hung down from the roof in a fretful way and some reached the iced ground a pink almost red light shone in the ice.

"We're here." He grunted out.

The cave was a lot like the land outside, spiky and anything but pleasant. A alter grew in front of them, and standing on it was three chalices of ice, silver swirled around it together with rubies and diamonds. Drago commanded Gothel to get them, she muttered in silence as she walked up the alter. In the bottom of every chalice, a mark was graved into the ice: One of them had the _Triquetra_ ; the one in the middle had the _Vesica Piscis_ symbol and the third the _Valknut_. Gothel raised an eyebrow at this.

"Why do they have different symbols?" she asked. Drago glared at her.

"It's because the chalices have different abilities." He said in a harsh voice. "Now take them and get going, I hope Pitch has good news about the brat." Gothel picked up the chalices, they were heavier than she first thought before she carefully put them into the bag she had carried over her shoulder.

"And if he doesn't?" she walked down the alter and looked into Drago's brown eyes, that glared back at her.

"He will regret letting the kid out of his sight."

"Elsa..." Anna said slowly as she looked out towards the horizon thru the frosty windows of the castle the sun of the early morning made the ice and snow that had fallen during the night sparkle like diamonds, it was beautiful and she'd try to like it more if it wasn't for the feeling that something terrible was going to happen swirled in her gut.

"Anna." She turned her head around to see Kristoff walking towards her. "You okay?"

"Yeah... it's just... I'm worried; I got this bad feeling... I need to find her and make sure she's alright."

"It's easier said than done, she didn't freeze Arendelle like she did last time... and we don't really know where she is." Anna looked down sighing.

Hiccup had heard most of what they had said as he had walked towards them; he looked down to his compass before he cleared his throat, making the two lovebirds turn around.

"Perhaps I can help with finding the queen." He said looking at them.

"How?" Anna asked giving him a confused look.

"With this." He threw his compass to Anna who caught it and looked down at it in confusion.

"A compass; what good will it do?" Hiccup smiled at her.

"Open it." Anna raised an eyebrow at him before she snapped the compass open and looked down at the arrow that spun around or wobbled between two spots.

"It's broken."

"It's not, think of something you want dearly... like your sister for example." The arrow stopped for a moment before it with a steady spin pointed towards the southwest. "What?"

"The Queen is that way." Hiccup said and pointed in the direction that the arrow showed.

"Well then." Anna sat up on Sven looking at Kristoff and Olaf. "I'll leave Arendelle in your hands; I'm going after my sister."

"You will need help." Jack said. "If _Master_ is causing this, then there a big risk she won't recognize you."

"She's my sister, she'd never hurt me..." Jack gave her a look that made her grow quiet.

"If _Master_ 's in control, then even if she won't hurt you, she will; if he decides for her to do so, you **can't** fight against his control..." he sighed "Trust me I've tried."

"Then you can come with me." Anna said. Olaf jumped up on the back of the reindeer he was coming with her.

"Jack." Hiccup said the teen turned his head to look at him. "What if Pitch's there..."

"I know his mind control better than anyone..." He smiled, but Hiccup gave him a concerned look. "Don't worry I'll be fine."

"It's just... come back okay."

"If the queen has ice powers like me, then he won't hurt her."

"Just stay safe, Jack." Hiccup gave him the compass, Jack nodded and were about to climb up on Sven's back when Hiccup took a hold of his shoulder and pulled him back into a hug. "Take this." He said and took of his coat placing it over Jack's shoulders. Jack blinked and stared up at him. "To keep you warm..." Hiccup brushed his hand thru his hair a slight blush on his cheeks. Jack chuckled and took of his poncho and gave it to Hiccup.

"Don't freeze." He said as he took on the coat, it was too big; it almost dragged on the ground. Hiccup laughed at that as he took on the poncho. Jack looked at him before he placed his hand on the back of Hiccups neck and pulled him down to a kiss.

Sven walked thru the snow, Jack sat on his back behind Anna, and Olaf sat behind him laughing. Anna looked down at the compass the arrow wobbled now and then, but didn't change course. They moved in silence, the only sound was their breathing and the snow complaining under Sven's hooves.

"If you can't break the mind control by yourself... how do you stop it?" Anna asked breaking the silence.

"Well..." he gave away a strangled laugh "It depends... there are three types of mind control..." Anna looked back at him in confusion. "The first one is just the control over the body it's, like a puppet on a string feeling and it's the one who's in control who ends up in pain. Then there's the mind, mostly nightmares, or seeing things that's not real then it's the one who casting the control that have to concentrate really hard, and then there's the third one..." Jack sighed "The third one is control over both the mind and body... if the one who's in control has mercy then you won't see what you're made to do, you can say you get locked away in your own mind... but there are those who make you watch, but being unable to do anything. This one takes energy from both parts, but if this sort of control is held for too long the person being controlled dies slowly, until they're noting but skin and bone..." Anna gave him a horrified look and made Sven walk faster.

The snow grew thicker and the temperature sank. The wind picked up and snowflakes blew in the wind.

"We're close..." Anna said slowly. Before she took a deep breath "ELSA!" she shouted out looking around. Sven stopped walking and a deep sound like a growl left him. "Sven, what's wrong?" Anna looked at him giving him a pat on the neck, but she looked up when Jack clapped her on her shoulder.

In front of them, hair blowing loosely in the wind stood the queen of Arendelle; her eyes glowed bright in yellow like fire and her dress was covered in frost and ice, she trembled.  
Anna and Jack sat of from Sven's back.

"Elsa." She said moving towards her sister. Jack looked around with a wary look on his face, the shadows were dark, and he could feel that Pitch was not so far away from them.

"...Kill..." Elsa suddenly mumbled out, Jack blinked, Anna looked at her.

"What? Elsa?"

"Captain... of the Night Fury..." Jack looked to them and felt his body grow cold; Pitch had ordered her to kill Hiccup! He looked around again trying to find Pitch.

"Elsa what are you doing?!" he turned back to them and saw how the queens hand was raised the wind and snow swirled around her. And she looked right at him.

"Kill the captain..."

White burning pain was the next thing Jack felt, he heard Anna cried out someone's name. He groaned placing his hands at his chest, as he slumped to his knees. A cold shiver wracked thru his body, but the pain died out and he blinked.

"Jack!" he looked to his side to see Olaf giving him the most frightened look Jack had ever seen on the snowman's face.

"I'm fine?" Jack said getting to his feet. "I'm fine." He looked up to see how the yellow blew out from Elsa's eyes and she collapsed into her sister's arms.


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Hiccup opened the door to the cabin, the Bewilderbeast was covered in a soft blanket of snow, Toothless played around in it, and bite around a broom and began to draw in the snow with it, he laughed at him before he walked into the cabin stomping snow of his feet, before he walked over to the staff that still was on his desk. He picked it up and walked back to the door, but just as he opened the door out ran a cold feeling over him. He blinked, and first now noticed that Toothless had left the drawing and was standing at the railing fur bristling and growling. Hiccup saw a big ship move towards them, he groaned.

"Great!" he muttered "The Marines." Toothless gave away a hum. "Let's go bud." Hiccup climbed down to the ice Toothless followed; ice had frozen most of the fjords water.  
It was thick but there was still a stroke in the middle of the fjord where the water ran freely.

The ice cracked at the front of the big ship making the ice sing. Hiccup cursed when it started to snow again, small hard snowflakes swirled around in the air and soon he could barely see anything, he felt Toothless next to him, the panther walked so that they bodies touched, the wind howled and Hiccup pulled Jack's poncho around him harder, he hoped he was alright, and that they had found the queen and gotten the control Pitch had over her broken.

"Are we even going in the right way?!" he shouted out, looking down at Toothless who was more white than black at the moment from all the snowflakes that had gotten stuck in his fur, he didn't hear Toothless reply, but he felt the vibration from the panther.

Sven dashed in thru the open castle doors startling the two pirate crews along with Kristoff.

"Where's Hiccup?!" Anna cried out, Kristoff and Rapunzel followed by Astrid hurried up to her. Sven gave away a worried sound.

"What happened?" Astrid asked.

"Get him inside, and get Hiccup." Rapunzel first now noticed Jack; who was shivering like mad, his brown hair no longer brown but white with some brown strays still existing.

"Jack!" she said in shock as she helped him down from the reindeer. Nicholas hurried up to them and placed his big rock over Jack's shoulders, it dragged on the ground, but it was big and warm. Jack gave him a smile even has his teeth clattered.

"T-t-thank-k-ks Nic-k-kolas." He clattered out.

"Let get you inside, no?" Jack gave away a tired nod. Nicholas led him inside the castle.

"What happened?" Rapunzel asked looking at Anna.

"The one controlling my sister… Pitch was his name… right?" Rapunzel nodded "He made her fire a blast of ice, it hit Jack on the chest and froze his heart, and only an act of true love can taw a frozen heart. That is why we need to get Hiccup here. They bout love each other don't they?"

"Yes they do. But Hiccup went back to the ship to get Jack's staff…" Astrid said before she stopped talking her eyes widened and she stared at Anna. "What… happens if nothing is… done, if Hiccup gets here too late?"

"If that happens Jack will turn to ice…" Kristoff said. Then the snowstorm was over them as well. Aster shouted a curse to the wind and it picked up.

"Déjà vu much…" Olaf said and ran inside holding his head and butt in place; he was not in the mood to be blown apart. Everyone else followed.

Jack was put down on the sofa in front of the fireplace; he hugged Nicholas rock around him harder as Nicholas put more wood on the fire.

"How you feeling, son?" he asked as he turned to Jack.

"C-c-cold… b-but no-not a-as c-cold a-a-as b-b-before."

"That's good." Nicholas said.

"We don't know where Hiccup is at the moment, and to make matters worse the snowstorm is only growing worse." Rapunzel entered the room talking to Astrid and Merida, the rest of the two crews were still in the ballroom, the only room big enough for them. Jack turned his head to look at them. Olaf was with them as well, his little cloud floating over him, keeping him from melting. They kept talking but Jack let his eyes drift to the fire, he was cold and tired; the talking around him smeared together to a blur and it sounded as if he was under water.

The storm eased a bit, and Hiccup blinked as he saw the world around him better. He then heard how Toothless growled so loudly, he turned his head around and saw a shadow in the snowstorm, it moved closer and soon he saw who it was.

"Oh by Thor; not you!" Hiccup groaned loudly and Toothless only growled louder.

Green eyes looked at him in humour as the red orange locks blew in the wind.

"I must say, I never thought I find you here, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third."

"Hans, you forgot the 'Captain'…" the man growled in return.

"Captain or not won't matter, when I take your head." Hans said as he unsheathed his sword. Toothless growled louder. Hiccup held out his hand and looked down at the panther, before he took out his own sword, the flames flare up around it; Hans gave away a laugh.

"You and your creations."

"They kept me alive."

The swords clashed, sparks shot out from Hiccup's sword. Toothless backed away, to not get in the way, but he growled loudly when Hans attacked and let his sword cut the wood apart of Hiccup's prosthetic. Hiccup blinked before he lost his balance and fell to his back with a hiss as his head hit the ice, ha sat up with help of his elbows his sword lying next to him, hissing in the ice, before the flame blew out. Hans laughed.

"Oh Captain…" he said and grinned, but it fell when Toothless got in-between them, growling, teeth bared and fur bristling, he was not going to let anyone hurt his human and friend unless he could do something about it. "I see you still have the pest around." To that Toothless growled louder.

Rapunzel stood at the window, she scraped at it but she couldn't see thru the glass, she sighed as she forced the window open, she heard how jack gave away a shiver.

"Sorry!" she said as she looked out thru the window, the storm was still blowing around. She gasped. "Hiccup!" she said in a frightened tone.

Jack lifted his head and snapped out of his daze by her cry.

"Rapunzel what is it?" Astrid asked.

"He's fighting Hans."

"Toothless with him, he will be fine." Nicholas said. Jack wasn't sure his he heard right or not, but he knew so well that he had to move, had to get to Hiccup!

He didn't hear Nicholas cry out his name when he dashed up from the sofa, Nicholas rock and Hiccup's coat fell of him as he jumped out thru the window. He felt Rapunzel's fingers almost get a hold of him but her grip slipped, and he rolled and skidded down the roofs of the castle.

"JACK!"

Snow and cold swirled around him but he ran the fastest he could on numb feet. He stopped once he passed the two big gates to the castle looking around and saw the shadows of Hiccup and Hans with Toothless between them further away on the ice, he ran again. Stumbling in the wind that dragged him and shoved him in all directions, he looked down at his hands, his fingertips were blue and frost covered them, he gave away a shaky breath as he ran again.

He needed to get there before it was too late!

Elsa blinked her eyes open, her head was in noting but pain, she groaned raising her hand to find it under the blanket, she rustled a bit before she placed it over her eyes.

"You okay?" she removed her hand to find Anna stand next to her with a worried look on her face.

"'m fine… head hurts a bit that's all." She sat up slowly. "What happened, I can't remember going to bed." Anna gave away a strangled sound. "Anna." Elsa said looking at her. "What happened?"

"YouwerecontrolledbysomeonenamedPitchhemadeyourunawayandwefollowedandyoufrozeJack'sheart…" Anna said to fast before she sighed.

"What did you say?" Elsa sat up straighter and fear crept into her voice. "I froze someone's heart?!"

"You were _forced_ to freeze his heart…"

"That's not going to make me feel better!" Elsa says gesturing to Anna. "Where is he?"

"In the library…" Elsa gets to her feet and the two of them leaves the room. Kristoff looks at them and Sven gives them a worried look. They open the door to the library only to find Rapunzel halfway out the window kept from falling by Astrid's iron grip on her waist.

"What happened?" Anna says in shock, but she is unheard to Rapunzel who curses as she gets back inside.

"That idiot! He will freeze to death! What is he thinking!?"

Toothless growls loudly and Hans tries to fight the panther away, Toothless makes an attack with his paws and Hans take this moment to kick him away. Toothless yelps in pain as he skids away on the ice.

"Toothless!" Hiccup cries up sitting up a bit more but he stops when the tip of Hans's sword is placed against his chest.

"I wouldn't worry about the pest." He says and is just about to attack when Hiccup grabs around his sword and blocks his attack, he grimaces form the force.

"You talk too much." Hiccup mutters as he pushes Hans back, he's able to get up on his knees before Hans attacks again, the swords clash, Hiccup give away a growl as he keeps his sword in line. But before he can do more his sword is kicked out of his hand and clatter against the ice behind him. Hiccup feels his eyes grow wide when he sees how Hans raises his sword.

"I'll be promoted to admiral for this." He says and is hitting the sword down.  
Toothless lifts his head and shakes it giving away a cry of fear.  
Hiccup moves his arm in a way of defence and forces his eyes shut, but his ears rings with the shout.

" _NO!_ "


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

"NO!"  
Jack jumped in between them; arms held out to his sides, not trying to catch the sword rather turn to a human shield.

The world grew dark for his eyes; but he thought he heard Pitch roar in the distance, as the sword fell towards him; he missed how Hans's expression turned from the one of greed to one of shock. Then the cold and dark took him.

The sword almost touched his shoulder before the ice shattered the sword sending Hans flying back hitting his head against the ice as small cloud of air bloomed up at his mouth as his body turned to ice.

Hiccup blinked his eyes open, when the pain from the sword didn't come, he louvered his arms and felt his body grow so very cold when he saw who stood in front of him. The snowstorm was no more, the snowflakes had stilled in the air.

"JACK!" he cried out, scrambling up to all four- three. He heard how Toothless gave away a yowl as he ran up to them. Hiccup got to his foot, managing to stay balanced. "No…" he gasped out nothing more than a whisper. As he let his fingertips land on Jack's cheeks they were cold, his eyes were empty. Hiccup felt the tears start to run down his cheeks. "Jack…" he closed his eyes and let his head fall to Jack's shoulder.

He felt how Toothless stroked his head against his leg, and he looked down to the panther that looked up at him with teary eyes.

He heard steps on the ice and gasps. He didn't dare to look up, but he knew from the gasps, his crew and Astrid's. A sound he couldn't remember hearing before reached his ears and he let go of Jack a bit to stare at him, the ice around his heart was… was thawing and turning back to normal. He stared. It thawed in the form of countless snowflakes. Jack's body sagged and Hiccup held him close to keep him from falling to the ice as his arms fell loosely to his sides and to Hiccup's surprise his brown hair stayed white.  
Hiccup couldn't believe his eyes.  
A groan came from Jack and along it a harsh intake of breath, before his body stirred and he lifted his head slowly.

"…Hiccup..?" he croaked out in confusion. Hiccup gave away an inhuman sound as he hugged around the now whitehaired teen harder.

"You're alive." he said into the crook of Jack's neck. "Thank the gods you're alive…"

Toothless got his eyes on the staff and walked over to it biting carefully around it before he walked over to them, sitting down on the ice and gave away a chirp. Hiccup looked down at him.

"Right." He said taking the staff in his hand. "Here." Jack stared at the staff.

"What? But… I thought it was destroyed in the fire…" he said and took it, it glowed and seemed to purr into his grip. Frost covered the wood where he held it and it reacted to him as it had done the first time he'd held it. And that was when he felt the void inside of him getting filled.

Pitch slammed his hand onto the railing of the ship and forced his teeth together. This was not how he wanted things to go. Why was that captain so hard to kill!? He growled as his eyes glowed bright. But then a gif toothy grin grew on his lips.

"It's not over jet, my dear _captain_. Celebrate the last hours of your life in your foolishness... I will take back what's mine."

A feast was thrown, delicious food and singing, dancing and more food, Elsa had a talk with jack about his powers and told him not to fear them, nor conceal them, it would only make things worse, learn to control them by practicing. She smiled at him.

"I still find it strange that your hair didn't change back." She said and took some of Jack's locks in her hand. He laughed a bit

"Maybe it's because of my powers." Elsa smiled at him, as he moved back to Hiccup and the Night Fury crew, he would be fine, she knew that. She sighed and smiled.

Elsa had talked to the marines and Hans, and told them that as long as the two crews were in Arendelle she would not let the marines catch any of the members, and if they did she would bring them back by force, she had showed them quite good by making the beard of the admiral become covered in ice and frost; they had agreed in haste.

The black ship moved slowly in the faint light of dawn.

"All we need now is to get the kid back, and then we are clear to go." Gothel said in an annoyed tone. "But if you hadn't let him out of your sight, we would already be on our way." She shoved a finger in Pitch chest, and he growled back at her, slapping her hand away.

"Oh, don't worry about it Gothel, my dear. The kid won't run from us again."

"But jet you let him two times." Dagur chipped from there he sat on a barrel. He got a glare from Pitch and he grew silent.

"For your sake, I will keep you to that promise." Drago said in a dark voice.


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

An Albino head shot out from the bush and at the same time he called out in a loud but otherwise pretty emotionless voice.

"Oh!" the boy with purple and yellow paint in hair and body flinched hard jumping up in the air with a shriek, tumbling forwards spinning around on his naked toes before he turned to the albino as he chased on to his rear.

"Max! Do not do that again! You almost made me do a number three." The boy said as the albino helped him get to his feet again. "I do not want to do a number three."

"Did I do something wrong?" Max asked tilting his head like he always did when he didn't know.

"You know better than anyone just how jumpy I am." Oh blurted out still shaken, "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Heart attack." The albino began to nudge his palms together creating a static friction between the fabrics of his white shirt. "I can fix." He held his hands towards Oh, sparks shooting from the fabric of his shirt, Oh blinked before he brought his hands up in front of him backing away a step.

"No I'm fine! It's just an expression!" Max looked confused again oh sighed deeply before he blinked looking at Max again. "Did you want something?" Max let his arms drop to his sides as he nodded.

"Kida asked for us and the other lost boys, Peter went for the others while Tinkerbell went to find Milo."

The ice let the sunlight colour the landscape in a faint but still surprisingly clear light with a slight bluish tone.

"Tinkerbell, I need to know, are you sure." the pixie stopped mid-flight to turn around and glare at the brown-haired man with big round glasses the pixie nodded sharply before she zipped further ahead.

The steep path that went thru thick vegetation changed to rocks and ice and soon Milo found himself standing in the great cave that was the entrance from the outside, but also the room of the fountain. He looked around and saw Tinkerbell glow in the dimness as she flew towards a white-haired woman who was crunching in front of the fountain hand moving thru the water, she had a frown on her face. He sighed and adjusted his glasses for a moment before he walked over to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked and sank down on his heels next to her, she looked up at him.

"The fountain is reacting to something, I noticed it this morning; the water doesn't taste the same anymore in the streams."

"So what's the problem?" Milo looked at her in confusion "I tasted no difference in the water." She huffed a laugh

"It's because you're not born here, I know this water, and it always taste like this when..." she stopped and got to her feet before she stared of to the other edge of the cave, where the entrance to the outside was barely visible unless you knew where to look. "Oh no..." she breathed out.

"What?" Milo looked up at her in confusion. "Kida what's wrong?"

"Someone has found the chalices of the Winter Rose... that means someone is trying to find the fountain."

"Which; is a bad thing." Kida nodded and looked at him. "We need to warn the others. If it's Overland coming back I will make him regret it, I told him personally that if he returns he won't be welcomed."

"And if it's not?"

"Same treatment: those who search for the fountain cannot be trusted with the knowledge." Milo sighed but nodded.

The sky was grey and the snow hung in the air, but no snowflakes were falling. Jack stood in the middle of the castle ground on the inside of the gates, he held the staff in his hand, Toothless stood near, but not in the way, Hiccup sat on one of the fountains holders.

"If you can freeze my hair by sneezing without the staff, just think of what you can do with it."

"I'm not gonna freeze you." Jack said looking at Hiccup with a flash of annoyance flying by his eyes before it disappeared.

"I did not say that." Hiccup chuckled as Jack cast him a half-hearted glare.

"So how are ya planning to explore this power of yers?" Aster suddenly asked as he came walking towards them with an annoyed look on his face, but more to the cold and snow than them.

"I don't know..." Jack said and looked down at the staff.

"ASTER! THINK FAST!" Nicholas voice suddenly boomed, Aster turned around and collapsed to his back when a snowball hit him right in the face, he sat up and shook his head giving away a growl as the snow, that didn't get stuck in his hair fell to his lap before he laughed a dark chuckle gathering snow in his hands.

"Yer on mate." He said and got to his feet and threw the snowball. Nicholas laughed and ducked gathering snow in his hands again, this time he threw the snowball so that it hit the back of Hiccup's head, the captain gave away an inhuman squeak and sat up as straight as humanly possible as snow fell down inside his clothes against his skin. Jack blurted out a laugh at the sight, before a snowball hit him on the side of his face, he tumbled a bit but remained on his feet.

"Hey!" he said looking at Aster who sneered at him with a glint in his eyes.

"What are ye-" Merida walked out, but a snowball shut her up and send her slipping on the ice on the ground so that she landed on her bum. Rapunzel snorted before she began to laugh, before a spray of fluffy snow was thrown in her face, she spluttered at the snow and stroke away snow from her face.

It didn't take long before the entire open ground in the castle became a battlefield. Tadashi, Hiro and Tip was dragged into it to along with the Deadly Nadder crew, along with Anna and Kristoff. Snowballs flew between the two crews and people laughed. Time went by and whoever it was, no one was sure whose snowball it was, got Elsa into the war as well, she conjured a big snowball on her own and smiled, and the tables turned fast and made the entire battle dynamic changed from the teams of the two crews to an all on all.

The sky was a colour of lilac when there was no untouched snow on the ground any longer. Everyone was cold and drenched in water from the melted snow, but laughter still bubbled in most of them.

"Come now, let's get inside, I will make sure there's hot chocolate for everyone." Elsa said as she walked into the castle. A gust of wind blew in from the open gate, Aster shivered and hugged around himself.

"Gosh it's **freezing**!" he said and hurried his steps towards the open door of the castle. "I can't feel ma feet! I can't feel ma feet!" he said. Nicholas laughed at him.

Jack held the staff in one hand and moved it in front of him and blinked when a small stroke of frost and snowflakes began to fall from the tip to the ground, he stopped walking and moved the staff again, and the snowflakes were bigger this time along with more frost. He took the staff in both hands and made a swirl of it in the air, he accidentally made the staff touch the fountains foot and frost shot out from the staff and crawled over the already frosty surface. Jack gasped before he made it again. More frost form the tip, Jack laughed and held the staff close, before he turned it so that the g like hook was pointing to the ground and he began to run dragging the staff after him, snow and frost spread from it. He ran around not minding the cold, or the tingling feeling that came from his cold toes. Hiccup turned around when he heard Jack laugh and saw how the glow form the staff spread frost and snow over everything it touched.

"Jack?!" he called out, just as a blast of snow shot away from the tip of the staff up in the air, Jack gave away a surprised gasp at it, but it turned to a yelp when a big scope of snow fell from the roof of the wall around the castle because of the snow he had made, over him. "Oh Thor! Jack!" Hiccup said and hurried over towards the pile of snow that Jack was in, he only had a few more steps when Jack's head shot up from the snow and he sneezed and spat loudly to get snow out form hit nose and mouth. "You okay?" he looked up at Hiccup, snow in his hair and cheeks and nose red from the cold, but his eyes sparkled from the fun he'd had for a short moment before he forced them shut.

"It's COLD!" he cried as his teeth began to clatter. "I got snow everywhere-" he whined and almost bit his tongue because of his clattering teeth as Hiccup helped him out form the snow.

"Come on, it's warmer inside."

The fire in the fireplace burned warm and bright, Aster occupied a foot stool, rubbing life back into his frozen feet if you looked closely you could see vapour rise from them, he had a thick pelt over his shoulders and a cup of chocolate at his foot that for the moment was on the floor. Jack sneezed again when they got into the warm room, everyone was in there.

"Not going to create snow now, are you?" Hiccup asked, Jack shook his head fast sending a plume of snow that was stuck to his hair to the floor.

"No, I have gone tired of snow and cold for one day." Hiccup chuckled at that.

"I find that hard to believe."

"Aw look at them." Rapunzel squealed in a hushed tone, as she looked at Hiccup and Jack who had snuggled up against each other in one of the armchairs that they moved over to the fire to get warm again. A big blanket was placed over them both and Hiccup was in a deep sleep holding around Jack in a way that showed he had no plans on letting Jack out of his grasp anytime soon. Jack on the other hand was snuggled up against Hiccup's side an arm falling over the captain's stomach, and his head under Hiccup's jaw, Toothless lied at their feet by the armchair and if you looked closely you could see he had a satisfaction shining around him.

"I'll wake them." Merida said and got to her feet.

"By the sun No!" Rapunzel said and grabbed the snipers arm, stopping her and looked up at her with a serious expression. "They been away from each other for far too long and Hiccup almost lost him and they are finally back together, and you know Hiccup hasn't really been sleeping as much as he needs, he's still not fully healed after the bullet wound and Jack- I have no idea how he's been sleeping, **if** they even let him sleep at all, so let _them sleep_." Merida held up her hands in surrender.

"Calm down Punz, fine I won't wake them." Merida said "But they can't sleep in the armchair the entire night, you're the doctor."

"One night in an armchair won't kill them." Rapunzel said and smiled.

Nicholas smiled at them before he clasped his hands together.

"Well, why don't we find time to rest, and get body temperature back to normal, no?" he said "Sleep is important, especially if you child." He looked over towards Hiro and Tip, who had trouble keeping her eyes open.

"But I'm not tired." Hiro said but a big yawn made his argument go unheard. Tadashi smiled and ruffled his hair.

"Better try next time." He said, and got to his feet, leading his siblings towards the room Elsa and Anna had provided for the two crews, since it was clear the castle was warmer than the ships at the moment.

Most of the crew member had retreated to the room, Hiccup and Jack was asleep in the armchair, but Rapunzel, Merida, Nicholas, Astrid and Sanderson were still up, and Eugene if you counted the sleeping crew member who sat snoring next to Rapunzel's legs. They talked about everything and nothing just relaxing in the warmth from the fireplace. But a wounded sound form Jack make them all turn to see how his face that had been calm is turned into a grimace, he's curling in on himself, and another sound escapes him, they are about to act when Hiccup's stirs a bit and hugs around him tighter, and snuggles his nose into Jack's white hair, mumbling things under his breath that only Jack will catch, before the teen relaxes and the tight grip he has had on the blanket loosens and whatever he saw in his sleep is gone. Astrid looks towards Nicholas and sees how he has the look of a father who has everything he'd ever ask for, she dare to cast a glance towards Rapunzel and Merida to find Merida trying to stay awake and Rapunzel smiling, down towards Eugene as she has started playing with his brown locks, love filling her eyes. So much for a light crush in the beginning the captain of the Deadly Nadder thinks and scratches Stormfly on the head, earning a silent chirp form the parrot who only snuggles closer to her and burrows her head into Astrid's hand.

"Love works in mysterious ways, no?" she turns her head again to find Nicholas looking at her. "Found someone special?" he asks, but it's not in an expecting voice, it's more like he knows the answer he will receive.

"No..." Astrid said and smiled at him.

Sanderson get up from the pillow he'd been sitting on and signals with some hand moments that he will head to bed, he pat Merida on her knee and her tired mind seems to understand what the old member of the Deadly Nadder means, she gives away a tired mumble in reply to him before she follows, swaying on her feet because of the sleep that is getting a stronger grip on her by each step.

"I'm not really looking either." Astrid said when Merida with help from Sanderson had left the room. Nicholas chuckles a bit. "I'm more in love with the freedom of being a pirate."

"Thought much." He says and smiles at her as he nods.

Rapunzel looks down at Eugene and poke him on the cheek, being the doctor she can't let him sleep on the floor in the castle, she pokes him again when he doesn't react, this time he frowns still not really awake.

"Hey… You can't sleep on the floor..." she says and pokes him on both cheeks, he groans and blinks his eyes open, if the light from the fire wouldn't have been so dim she would have sworn he blushed.

"Ah..?" he blinking up at her.

"No sleeping on the floor." She says and smiles. He blinks again and looks around still not fully awake, she chuckles and helps him to his feet. "Good night Astrid, Nicholas." She says and drags a stumbling half asleep Eugene after her.

"Good night," the two said and smiled after them when they left. Silence took over the room, only the sparks and pops form the fire was heard along with the calm breaths from Hiccup, Jack and Toothless. Nicholas sipped at his chocolate.

"I'm just glad he found someone." Astrid said after a while breaking the silence, Nicholas looked at her.

"True." He looks towards his captain again. "It good thing for them both. Jack have changed since he first came on board Night Fury." Astrid looked up at him.

"How do you mean?"

"He did not show feelings much at first, and looked like lost pup, but he learned to trust, and even love when he found his place in the crew." Nicholas smiled like the proud father again.

"You really care for them, Nicholas."

"Of course, they are children." He said looking at her before he grinned big. "My children, and I **won't** forgive anyone who harms them." He clenched his fists around the mug and glared out into the air. Astrid knew without asking who it was he was angry at: The Nightmare Dragon and its crew.


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Jack woke up with a start, he was sitting curled together in the armchair, the fire still flared in the fireplace, but the room was cold and empty expect for the chair, and fire. He sat up straight in the chair, the blanket falling to the floor and disappeared into thin air, that was when he saw his staff leaning against the armchair, the room was cold, Jack suddenly realized, colder than anything he'd felt before. He shivered and that was when his memory caught up with him, Hiccup had been in the armchair too.

"Hiccup?" he called out, but his voice only echoed out into the room, he got to his feet taking the staff in his hands and held it in a unsure way, he had no idea what happened, nor where the crew was. "Anyone?!" he began to walk only for a sound he never wished to hear again, the sound of sand and darkness shifting. He felt his body grow cold and he gripped the staff harder and against his chest as he slowly turned around to see that both the armchair and fireplace was gone, only a waste frozen landscape the castle room was gone and everything was only snow and ice. He looked around in confusion but he also felt fear grow. "Hello…" he called out, his breath turned to smoke in front of his mouth.

" _Well… look who it is._ " Jack stiffened when the voice he never wanted to hear again spoke behind him, he grabbed the staff harder feeling it spark in his grip before he spun around and without thinking shot away a blast of ice and snow. " _I see your powers gotten stronger._ " The voice said behind him again, he shot out another blast of ice only for a chuckle to echo around him. " _Really now?_ " Jack forced his lips together and his eyes darted around trying to find the owner of the voice. But Pitch only laughed. " _I have to say, I'm starting to question your loyalty with this action of yours. Have I not made it clear that as long as my mark is on your back you cannot escape from me?_ " Jack backed the staff in a defensive way, it was glowing and sparking ready to fire. " _After all_ … _You will never no matter what_ become your own." Pitch appeared from nothing in front of him, a shot of ice and fire shot out, but pitch dodged it by making shadows catch the ice instead the ice fell to the ground and shattered leaving black pieces of ice.

"Leave me alone!" Jack said, but his voice was trembling. "I'm _not_ afraid of you." Pitch laughed.

"Maybe not, but you are **afraid** of something, and I know what it is, just as well as you do." A chuckle left him. "That your precious Captain will turn his back on you and show that he never ever loved you~"

"You're wrong." Jack took a step back holding his staff to his chest.

"Am I?" Pitch smirked showing his pointy teeth. "You're so afraid of him shoving you away, how could he possibly love you? A mere Slave! You tried to kill him once and he nearly died another time because of you."

"Stop! You wrong! H-he would never-" Jack moved his hands to his ears forcing his eyes shut trying to block Pitch words out.

"Lying to yourself?" Pitch laughed and moved towards Jack hands behind his back and a satisfied smirk on his lips "It will be the end of you."

"Shut. UP!" Jack shouted and a blast of ice, wind and snow shot out from him.

Jack bolted up from the armchair whit a gasp of air falling out of it landing hard on the ground, and still being half asleep, sending a spray of frost over the fire that hissed in protest, before it went out, the wood covered in a thick layer of ice. Jack gasped for air, before he felt a pair of hands being placed on his shoulders.

"-ck… -ack! JACK!" he blinked and he found himself being pulled into a warm embrace. He blinked again, a sent, he recognised it so well reached his still panicked mind and it soothed him so that his frantic heartbeat slowly calmed, his hearing came next and he heard how the owner of the strong arms that held him was soothing calming words to him but also humming on the song, _their_ song.  
Jack mumbled out something, even he wasn't sure about, and moved his still outstretched arm to take a hold of Hiccup's arm, and burrowed his head into the crock of Hiccups elbow.  
Closing his eyes taking deep breaths.

"Shh… it's over... it's over now, it was just a bad dream." Jack doesn't say anything, he can still hear Pitch words echo in his memory. "Look at that, you froze the entire fireplace." Jack looked up and saw the fireplace covered in ice and frost. He blinked fully awake now and gave away a surprised sound when he saw it.

"Did… I do that?"

"Yes… You're really amazing, you know that?" Jack stared.

The sun stood as high as I got during the winter, the snow reflected the light and made the land brighter than normal. The two crews had what they needed, and what they were given by the castle. They moved towards their ships that surprisingly hadn't frozen stuck in the ice.  
Toothless played around in the snow chasing after a snowflake Jack controlled: he held the staff in his hand and it made his powers so much easier to control, and didn't leave him in an exhausted pile, gasping for air on the ground.

"Just so you know, out new ship is big." Eugene said looking at Jack. "Bigger than the Night Fury, and its name is the Bewilderbeast."

"Bewilderbeast?" jack asked looking at Eugene raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Hiccup named it, just as he did with the Night Fury." Jack smiled.

"What about the Deadly Nadder?"

"I named it." Astrid said walking up to their left smiling. "The Deadly Nadder and Bewilderbeast are both names from dragons that once existed."

Jack stopped and stared at the ship, they hadn't been joking when they said it was big. But he felt a tug of guilt when he saw the flag on the Bewilderbeast, it was brunt and it was a miracle it was still whole, why did they still want him here? Why did Hiccup still want him?

"Jack! Hurry up and get on!" he was brought out of his thoughts by Hiccup's voice calling for him. Jack hurried up the rope ladder he climbed and were about to crawl over the railing when a pair of big hands took a hold of his shoulders and helped him to deck. He looked up to find Nicholas smiling at him.

"Welcome on board the Bewilderbeast, son."

"Why do you keep calling me son?" Jack asks giving him a confused look "I never really got the chance to ask…" Nicholas smiled his blue eyes shining in a warmth.

"Do you remember what I told Gobber back on Berk?" Jack rose one eyebrow before he slowly nodded.

"Yeah… he said something about us looking like father and son… or something like that."

"Do you remember what I told him?"

"Ah… no…" Jack gave him an apologetic smile "Sorry."

"Ach, don't apologize son."

"You did it again!" Nicholas chuckled.

"Before I answer your question, how do you see the dynamic on this ship?" Jack looked even more confused than before. "It's not really that hard to answer, no?"

"Uh… well, it's…" Jack looked out over the ship, the sails were down and the big vessel had already started to move, followed by the Deadly Nadder close behind. "It's thousand times better than the Nightmare Dragon…" he looked back to Nicholas. "This crew and The Deadly Nadder from what I have seen, are like a big family… everyone care for another…" Nicholas nodded

"I had plan on giving you this earlier, but with all happening I give it to you now." Nicholas held out his hand, Jack looked at him in confusion before he held out his free hand, a small wooden doll landed in his hand, coloured blue and brown, he looked down at it and gave away a happy sigh when he saw it was painted like him, white hair, even if it was clear it had been painted brown at first, holding the staff in his small hands and grinning big at the one who looked at the doll.

"It's me?" Jack said looking up at Nicholas who laughed so that his shoulders wobbled, making the fur fluff up around his beard and head.

"Yes it is, son. And the reason is because you are one of our crew, and therefore one of my children. Hiccup may be the captain now, but being the oldest, I have taken on the obligation on making sure my children stay safe." He poked Jack in the chest. "That counts you as well, and nothing will change that." Jack smiled at him, giving away a laugh.

"For the record… I would actually wish for you as my father… if it's okay with you…" Nicholas beamed at him before he brought the teen into a tight bear hug, his laugh booming over the ship.

"Come now, let me show you around new ship."

The whistle of a cannonball shattered the moment. Nicholas and Jack turned around in union, to see how the big marine ship had begun to move, as it was slowly breaking free from the ice that had taken a hold of the ship. A big hole had been created in the ice form the cannonball.

"By the Moon! Who invited the marines?!" Aster shouted, form there he had been climbing up towards the bird nest but stopped on the nets to glare daggers at the ship.

"The government!" Hiccup spat back steering the ship into the middle of the fjord where the water ran faster. "Anny ideas on how to get them away?"

"Queen Elsa said they wouldn't attack before we got out from Arendelle's waters; that was just a warning." Tadashi said. "Or are the marines horrible at aiming?"

"It depends." Merida said and grinned as she took up her bow and an arrow, the arrow Hiro had made, she placed it on her bow. "It all depends on the captain, some ship miss with the length of three ships, others are a pain to get away from unharmed."

"Merida! I don't question your aim, but no firing back and wasting arrows!" Rapunzel shouted form there she stood.

"Spoilsport." Merida muttered with a pout, putting the arrow back. A strong gust of wind then grabbed a hold of the sails and you could feel how the ship jerked forward like an eager horse who loved to run and was given free reins. The Deadly Nadder speeded up next to them.

"So what do you plan on doing now?" Astrid asked from there she stood at the railing.

"Working on that." Hiccup called back, another cannonball whistled, and hit into the ice far ahead of them.

"They're gaining on us!" Aster shouted where he now sat in the bird nest.

"Well that give us two choices, getting killed by the marines, or getting caught by the marines." Eugene said and laughed, earning a slap on the chest from Rapunzel. "I'm just stating the truth, we might be fast, but they have cannons! And unless they start getting serious, we will end up with a hole in our new ship!" Jack looked at him, a small spiralling sound that sounded like someone walking on snow crust, with light feet, or hitting a rock onto half frozen ice. He looked down at his staff, who seemed to send a warm spark at him, he looked back to the marine ship, before he forced his lips together. He walked up the stairs to the helm, Toothless walking over to him.

"Jack?" Hiccup said.

"I got an idea… but I don't know if it will work or not…"

"I'm all ears." Another cannonball barely hitting the waters before it was followed by another.

"I- it might not work…"

"Then we'll plan form there." Hiccup said giving him a nod. "We don't know if your plan will work unless we try." Jack nodded and swallowed before he took a hard grip of his staff walking over to the rear of the ship, he may remember Pitch words, form the nightmare the man had given him earlier, but he also remembered what he had done with his staff. He tapped it against the railing, just to test, frost and ice spiralled out from it, before it stopped when the touch between wood to wood disappeared.  
He could do this. He might have imagined it, but he thought he heard someone whisper for him to believe.

He raised his staff so that the hook was pointing to the sky. He swirled it around for a moment, the wind began to pick up around him: making his clothes and hair wave he had his eyes closed as he thought over and over again. _I believe, I believe, I believe._ He then forced his staff down in the direction of the marine ship, and opened his eyes, they glowed in blue, the staff gave away strong sparks of frost and ice, as it began to glow stronger.  
Everyone stared at it and gasped when a big blast of ice and snow shot out from the tip, flying over the waters before it hit just in front of the marine ship. The water froze instantly at the touch of the blast, and the ship gave away a complaining sound as it jerked to a sudden halt at the collision with the ice that only grew thicker and stronger by the second, it had a unnatural bluish tone to over it, snow began to fall from the sky and the wind grew harder towards the ship as a very local snowstorm grabbed the waters between the marines and the two pirate ships.  
The staff stopped glowing as it clattered against the deck, Jack's knees began to give as he began to fall. Toothless ran up to the teen catching him before he hit the deck. The panther gave away a worried sound, Jack stirred and moved his hands to his head.

"Ugh… I'm not doing that again…" he groaned curing in on himself.

"Jack my son! That was extraordinary!" Nicholas boomed and helped Jack to his feet. "How long have you been able to do that?"

"Ah- I didn't know I could…" Nicholas took up the staff from the deck and gave it back to jack, it started to glow faintly at his touch. "That was what I meant with that I didn't know if it would even work."

"Well, we don't know how long it _will_ work, so let's get a step on and get out of here! Hans is not stopping when he has set his eyes on something." Hiccup said but in the end shouted for everyone to hear him, but he looked towards Jack when Nicholas helped him towards the helm. "You okay? Don't overdo yourself."

"I'm fine Hiccup, just tired." Jack said and smiled Hiccup gave him a nod and smiled back.

"I'm glad to have you back, Jack." It was said in such a way, that even the ones who didn't know about their relationship would know. Those words was to be translated to the very words Jack needed to hear, but still had never voiced himself.

The fjords edges is closer to the middle because of the ice that is spreading out from the shores, but it was till enough space for the two ships to go next to each other. The sky was turning darker and soon the sun went down under the horizon, the northern lights flared to life in the sky, in clear strong colours of the rainbow. The ships sighed in the wind that blew them forward, the marine ship was left behind in Arendelle, and so far it hadn't caught up to them.

Jack opened the door outside from the galley, the air was chilly and his breath turned to smoke in front of him. He hugged the poncho around him harder and walked out in the cold, he didn't really put his staff away anymore, it felt as if it belonged in his hand, and he felt whole when it was close. He leaned against the wall next to the galley door looking up at the sky, he'd seen the northern lights before, but not in this strength or colour. Laughter rang form the galley thru the wood of the door, he smiled to himself, but still… Pitch words had made him start to doubt, did he really belong on this ship?  
He sighed and closed his eyes as he let his head fall back against the wood, shivering when the cold air got a hold of his bared throat.  
Silence filled the world around him, only the sound of water hitting against the ships bodies, the flags fluttering in the wind and the sails giving away a humming sound, but also the creaks and squeaks form the wood and ropes as the ships moved forward.

He turned his head when he heard the door open. Tadashi stood there, he walked out and closed the door behind him; the scars covering his body became visible in the shifting lights, but he had a smile on his lips and his eyes were bright.

"There you are." He said. "I have wanted to talk to you for a while."

"With me?" Jack blinked at the older man, Tadashi nodded.

"I told you that I met your father right?" Jack nodded slowly Tadashi walked away from the door before he sat down on the stairs next to Jack. "He was so engrossed in finding this Fountain of Youth." Jack's face darkened and he looked away, and it was clear he didn't want to hear anymore, but Tadashi didn't stop there "But when Aunt Cass asked him about his family, do you know what he said?" Jack looked back to Tadashi.

"I don't." he spat out looking away again.

"He said he had a son and a loving wife, who was carrying their second child, he loved his family to the moon and back, he said." Tadashi grew silent for a moment, Jack was staring out into the air, having a hard time believing what he was told.

"If what you say is true, why didn't he come back?" Jack's voice was cold and harsh. Tadashi gave him an apologetic smile and sighed.

"He didn't only stop at our island on his way to find the fountain, he stopped on his way back to, and he was so afraid, always keeping an eye over his shoulder, do you know why?"

"No and I don't really want to know either."

"In his search for the fountain he befriended bad people, I think you know who, and he feared for his own life, but also for the life of his family, he gave me a chest, telling me you had the key, I gave it to Hiccup in hopes that he would give it to you, since I at that time, didn't even plan on becoming a part of this crew." Jack looked at him. "I don't know what that chest contains, but he wanted you to have it."

"You said I have the key to it, I have no key." Tadashi shrugged.

"He told me you did, but I don't know how well he was in the head when he left me the chest."

Jack looked away, silence overtook them.

"How… how did you get those scars? If you don't mind me asking." Jack said after a while breaking the silence.

"A fire. We lost our parents in a fire when we were small, Hiro was only three then, and I ran back inside in a failing attempt to save my parents. I got these then, when I was forced out side by the fire, Hiro was crying, I don't think he remembers much… Our Aunt took care of us after that."

"What about Tip?"

"I don't really know, we found her and Pig, the cat." Tadashi filled in at Jack's confused look "She was looking for her mother, but couldn't find her. Aunt Cass took her in." Tadashi laughed "She warmed up to Rapunzel faster than she usually does to strangers, and I can't blame her." Jack gave away a hum.

The new day was bright, Rapunzel looked down at the map.

"According to the map the fjord we are in right now opens up to the ocean again, from there its open water and we are free to go wherever we want." She said and smiled.

"That's good news." Aster said and smiled. "Then maybe we can go to more southern latitudes, were we don't risk freezing to death."

A gust of ocean wind blew in over the ship, colder than the wind that blew the ship forward, Jack turned his head slowly and felt his hope crumble. There in the opening of the fjord the black ship was anchored. He choked on his breath and took a step back.

"Hi-Hiccup…" he managed to croak out.

"Jack what…" his words died on his tongue when he got his eyes on the Nightmare Dragon.

"Is this the ship?" Astrid asked from there she stood at the helm of her ship. Hiccup only nodded.

"It's them."


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

The snow drifted over the frozen ground, Drago's boots made the crisp on the snow crack. Alpha walked next to him and Pitch seemed to almost float over the snow like a dooming shadow behind the captain of the Nightmare Dragon.  
Hiccup stood further up ahead, Toothless and Jack next to him but one step behind. Drago sneered and Alpha growled at the panther.

The two Captains faced each other for the first time on the same ground. Pitch stooped several feet behind, and Jack and Toothless stood two steps behind Hiccup, Toothless growled and his black fur bristled as he made a move to get closer to Hiccup, but Jack placed his hand on the Panthers head stopping him.

"You sure are hard to get rid of, I say that." Drago said, Alpha stood at his side, the mountain lions mane blew in the wind. Hiccup observed the other captain.

"Why do you seek the Fountain?" Hiccup asked. His voice betraying nothing of what he felt. Drago laughed loud, but it was no humour in it.

"For the same reasons everyone else does. Never ending life. I can rule the oceans forever!"

"But you don't know how to find it." Hiccup said, as a matter of fact "Do you." Drago glared at him. "And without Jack's help you will never find it." Hiccup gestured back towards Jack who pulled the staff closer to his chest Toothless stood protectively in front of him. "You don't need him to bring you to the fountain." Hiccup said taking out his compass. "This compass can take you there, leave Jack alone and take this instead, Jack stays with us and you get your fountain, everyone stays happy and no one gets hurt." Drago gave him an inspecting look, he didn't look impressed. "This compass will show you the way to whatever you want, you will be the strongest pirate on the seven seas, let me show you-"

"No, **let me** show you." He took up his spear and a big grin grew on his lips. "PITCH!" he shouted, the dark hypnosis looked up and smiled, walking over towards Drago, his yellow eyes glowing like embers in the night.

"What are they doing?" Nicholas said slowly, from the railing of the Bewilderbeast, the entire crew stood at the railing, to keep an eye on what happened where Hiccup and Drago met, they saw how Pitch moved towards Drago.

"No one can resist Pitch command." Drago said looking at Hiccup with daring eyes "So, he who is in command over Pitch, commands everyone." He pointed at Toothless with the spear, Toothless growled louder, and Hiccup looked back to him before he looked back to Drago and Pitch.  
Jack turned his head and looked at Pitch with worried eyes, what were they planning?  
Pitch in return smiled and moved his hand in a moment, shadows played along at his hand.  
Toothless gave away a pained whine shaking his head, digging his claws into the snow.

"Toothless?!" Jack said fear creeping into his voice, Toothless growled and whined, pawing at the snow teeth gritted and his tail swatting from right to left. "Oh no…" Jack saw the yellow in Toothless eyes when the panther opened them. Hiccup turned around.

"What's going on?" The panther then suddenly collapsed to the ground as if all strength left him, and then just lied there. "Toothless!" his eyes opened wide.

Nicholas stared, grabbing the railing hard, before he cursed and jumped to the ground and began to run towards Hiccup.

"Nicholas! Wait! Where are you going? Hiccup told us not to interfere!" Rapunzel cried out.

"Pitch! What did you do!?" Jack cried out staring at Pitch, who showed all his pointy teeth in a big grin.

" _Isn't it obvious?_ " his voice echoed in Jack's head. " _I don't have time for the panther, he will only get in the way, now it's your turn._ "

"Witness true strength." Drago said and pointed his spear at Jack this time, Pitch grin grew wider as he snapped his fingers. Jack gave away a pained cry moving his hands to his head.

"Jack!" he heard Hiccup cry out his name.

"The strength of will over others…" Jack stumbled there he stood gripping the staff harder, before he slowly opened his eyes; yellow sweeping in covering the brown and blue, making yellow take over. Drago pointed at Hiccup as he continued to talk "And in the face of it. You. Are. Nothing." Jack louvered his hands, taking the staff in both. Before he slowly turned to Hiccup, who looked at him with worry on his face. Pitch chuckled when Jack raised his staff pointing the tip towards Hiccup.

"Eh… what did he just tell you?" Hiccup asked slowly, giving a small shake on his head, and backing slowly.

Nicholas ran the fastest he could, gasping for air, as it plumed around him as he ran. Rapunzel and Merida had started to run as well, followed by Aster.

"Jack… come on, what's the matter with you?" Hiccup looked from Jack who was slowly moving towards him, the staff glowing brighter each step, before he looked at Pitch to find him smiling the most evil smile Hiccup ever seen on the man. "No, no. no, come on what are you doing? Knock it off." Jack saw a brownish blur, fear was all he felt, at the same time his body felt like it was on fire, and he just wanted to scream, to crawl out of his own skin, he hated this feeling so much, especially when Pitch didn't let him see. But maybe it was a bad version of Pitch's mercy that took away his sight. A voice shouted somewhere. " _STOP! Snap out of it!_ "

"Jack! NO!" Hiccup looked back to find a wall of ice and snow behind him. Drago turned around and began to move back towards the Nightmare Dragon.

"You know what to do." He said looking at Pitch who smirked in reply.

Nicholas saw what played out in front of him and ran faster.

"JACK!" Hiccup shouted, fear slowly falling into his voice, but also confusion. "Don't!" the staff glowed brighter

"HICCUP!" Nicholas shouted he was closer now.

Hiccup had seen the staff when it glowed like that before, he knew what it meant. "DON'T!" he shouted, holding his hands out towards Jack.

"SON!" Nicholas shouted, Hiccup blinked looking to his side, and his eyes opened wide in shock and fear

"Nicholas NO!" Hiccup felt Nicholas hand on his shoulder before he was shoved out of the way, then the blast was fired, and a big cloud of ice, frost and snow spread out against the ice wall.

Rapunzel stopped right in her tracks gasping eyes open wide. Merida gasped and ran past her.

Drago turned around, seeing how Hiccup was on all four outside the cloud of ice, while Nicholas lied on the ground, big shards of ice covering him as snow and frost covered his abdomen. Drago hummed, that worked to, he then grinned and walked away.

Hiccup gasped for air, here he was on the ground, his mind racing along with his heart, and he still had a hard time to understand what happened. He lifted his head slowly and his eyes landed on Nicholas unmoving body. He then looked towards Jack, he stood like he'd done before, the staff louvered a bit, the air hazing around the staff and his breath puffing around his face, the yellow glowing bright. Hiccup got to his feet slowly, shaking his head in denial.

"No…" he breathed out before he ran over to Nicholas. He shoved the big shards of ice away, pushing them of the man. Before he grabbed Nicholas arm and tried to turn him so that he would lied on his back instead of his side. "Nicholas!" he cried out. Merida stopped a few steps away, eyes open wide before he shook her head slowly.

"Nicholas…" she gasped out, before she ran up to them, helping Hiccup roll Nicholas over to his back, the first thing she did when he was lying on his back was to place her head against his chest trying to find a heartbeat. While Hiccup looked at Nicholas.

"Nick… No… no." he then looked at Merida who still gasped for air from the sprint from the ship to them. She blinked as she tried to calm down, but she gave away a whine and closed her eyes, when she didn't hear a heartbeat, before she looked up at Hiccup, who had a faint look of hope in his eyes, but form the look she gave him it vanished and his eyes opened wider taking in a gasp of air, nearly choking on it. Eyes flying to Nicholas for a short moment before he looked back to her.

"No..!" he gasped out.

Pitch turned and followed Drago but snapped his fingers again. Jack blinked stumbling on his feet the staff nearly falling to the ground. He shook his head trying to get his mind back. The yellow vanished from his eyes. He gasped for air sinking to his knees placing his hand on the ground. He blinked again, and looked up seeing how Hiccup let himself fall over Nicholas chest as he mumbled no over and over, like a broken brayer, Merida sat on her knees next to him, placing her hands on his back. Jack heard how Toothless stirred and the panther blinked getting up on his feet, before he ran over to Hiccup giving away a worried whine, rubbing his head against Hiccups arm. Rapunzel and Aster ran past him, Rapunzel began to search for a pulse or any indication of life. On her knees next to Hiccup and Merida, Aster stopped next to them, staring down at the man, with wide eyes.

Jack got to his feet slowly, his body was trembling from tiredness. He began to move towards them, what happened, when had Nicholas gotten there?! He didn't understand, he hated this, he reached his hand towards Nicholas.

"No! Get away from him!" Hiccup said, his voice was so close to break at that moment. Jack took a step back, retreated his arm, staring at Hiccup with big eyes.

"Hiccup-" he asked, but was shut off.

"Go on! Get out of here!" Hiccup shouted his body language shut off and rejecting. Jack was so confused.

"What-" he took a step forward.

"Get away!" Hiccup shouted. Jack felt his eyes burn and took several steps away, looking away.

Aster said looking at Nicholas, before he saw the ice and snow covering Nicholas chest, and connected the dots.

"You…" he started turning to Jack anger pouring into his voice. Jack turned to him, maybe Aster could explain what just happened. "We should never have trusted you!" Aster shouted and clenched his fist, before it connected with Jack's cheek. Jack stumbled backwards before he fell to his butt, the staff clattered against the ground. Rapunzel opened her eyes wide at that, Jack just sat there, body stiff; before he got to his feet took the staff and ran away from the scene.

"It's not his fault… you know that" Hiccup collapsed down to his knees, forcing his eyes shut. "People under the control of bad people, do bad things." Rapunzel said placing her hands on Hiccups shoulder and back.

Jack ran.  
Drago shouted out orders to the men.  
Pitch looked back to Jack before he snapped his fingers again.  
Jack gave away a yelp of pain again stumbling over his own feet landing hard on the ground. Pitch appeared next to him. Jack looked up at him, fear burning in his eyes, he tried to move, but he couldn't.

"I warned you." Pitch said and chuckled. "You never belonged with them." Jack forced his eyes shut giving away a whine as he let his head fall to the ground. Pitch reached over Jack and placed his hand on Jack's back, where the scared slave mark was, before he dug his fingers into the mark. "Get up." He ordered. Jack rose slowly, without any fighting back, the yellow took over his eyes again.  
Pitch smiled. Before he began to lead Jack towards the ship. Pitch looked towards the captain of the Night Fury. "Farwell my dear captain may our ways never meet again." He said.

Hiccup looked up at that, his eyes open wide at the sight.

"Jack!" Hiccup cried out getting to his feet and were close to run after them.

"No don't…" Merida said holding him back. Hiccup stared as the Nightmare Dragon sailed away, towards the north. Hiccup stared after the ship, tears in his eyes.

They had manage to get Nicholas into the doctor's office, he took up the entire bed.  
Rapunzel juggled suggestions in the air, about how to get Nicholas back between Tip and Lunar.  
Tip listened trying hard not to cry.

Hiccup sat on the stairs up to the helm, staring out over the waters with empty eyes.  
Astrid had gotten on board their ship and stood next to him.

"It's a mess. You must feel horrible, you've lost everything. Nicholas, Jack…"

"Thank you for summing that up." Hiccup said sarcasm dripping from his words. Silence over took them. "Why didn't I dump him off on the nearest island? Would have been better for everyone."

"Yep, the rest of us would have done it, so why didn't you?" she paused looking at Hiccup with searching eyes. "Why didn't you?" she asked again more strength behind her words. Hiccup cast a look at her before he looked back out over the waters.

"I don't know… I couldn't." he said.

"That's not an answer." Astrid said in a strict tone, she got a glare in return.

" _Why_ is this so important to you all of a sudden?" he spat back glaring at her.

"Because I want to remember what you say _right now_." She said glaring back.

"Oh, for the love of… I was a coward, I was weak, wouldn't dump him of on the closest island."

"You said _wouldn't_ , that time." Astrid said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Agh, whatever… I _wouldn't_ …"

" _Why_?" Hiccup sighed deep, looking down at his hands.

"Because he looked so lost… and scared" Hiccup mumbled out.

"I bet he's really frightened now… what are you gonna do about it?"

"Ehhh… probably something stupid." Hiccup sighed.

"Good, but you've already done that…" she said gesturing to him with a smile on her lips. Hiccup was silent for a moment.

"Then something crazy..!" he said getting to his feet and walked towards the doctor's office. Astrid smirked.

" _That's_ more like it." She said and grinned.

Eret stared at Jack when Pitch got on board leading the teen in front of him, yellow skimmed in the boy's eyes.

"Jack-" Eret started, but then his jaw didn't want to cooperate, and neither did his body, the yellow ring in his eyes began to move. Pitch looked back at him and smirked.

"No interfering, slave." He said and his eyes glowed.


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Tip had fallen asleep in a corner of the room, Lunar sighed tiredly; he was old, far too old for the life as a pirate. Rapunzel sat in a chair next to Nicholas with her head in her hands.

"It's useless…" she mumbled out… "Even if we're able to bring him back it's been far too long. We better tell the others that he's gone…" Rapunzel sighed, her entire body showing just how hard the toll this entire situation took on her.

"Oh child, don't give up." Lunar said and placed his hand on hers. "As long as we believe there will be away to fix this, think child and believe with all your heart." She looked up at Lunar, before she let her eyes wander over towards Nicholas. _"Open it if you're in a horrible situation, it will help."_ She blinked, Toothiana's words echoed in her memory. She sat up straight getting to her feet, making the chair scrape against the floor startling Tip awake.

"Rapunzel..?" she mumbled out in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"I remember something a close friend said." Rapunzel moved over to a shelf and took a small bag form it. She held it in her hands: it felt like sand, but she wasn't sure, she hadn't opened it to look.

"What is that?" Tip asked getting up from the floor walking over.

"I got it from Toothiana… the Fairy Queen. She told me only to open it if I was in a horrible situation."

"Fairy dust?" Lunar asked eying the small bag.

"I… I don't know, it feels like sand…"

"Then open it my child, what have we to lose? Let's believe." She nodded and pulled the string, the bag fell open in her hand and sand, golden and glowing lied in her hand, dust rose from it glittering.

Then it started to move, first slowly, barely noticed by the eye, before it exploded out in the room in swirls of sand and light. Tip gaped, Rapunzel stared at the sand, and Lunar laughed. The sand and light swirled around in the room, nudging Rapunzel's cheek like it showed affection, stroking away a stray tear. Before it began to swirl over Nicholas. Then it fell down over him, and disappeared. The only thing left after it was the fabric of the bag. Lunar laughed and smiled

"Strong magic indeed."

"But nothing happened." Tip said, staring at him.

"Ach, child, look." Lunar pointed at Nicholas who was lying still; colour returned to his skin, before he took a deep breath, his chest rising to its highest peak, before his blue eyes flashed open, golden sand and light flickering at them for a moment before disappearing, Nicholas bolted up into a sitting position.

"Shostakovich!" he bellowed "That was **experience** I wish not to be involved in _again_." He got to his feet but almost toppled over.

"Ah! You were dead just a second ago! Don't move around!" Rapunzel shrieked pushing him back to a sitting position on the bed. She felt Nicholas heart beat under her palms, his breathing calm. She felt her vision go blurry as she lifted her head slowly to look up at him.

"Ah… Rapunzel, my dear child…" he said slowly. Placing his hand on her cheek, stroking hair away from her face as he did. She gave away a sob before she hugged around him.

"…Your back…" she whispered out, as if she was afraid he would die again if she said it out loud. Nicholas placed his hand on her back, before he cast his eyes towards Tip, who stood gripping the hem of her shirt hard, not moving. He smiled and held out his free hand towards her, she didn't need anymore, as she took the remaining steps and hugged around him as well, burrowing her face into his chest.

Aster punched the wall hard, teeth forced together hard, he was angry you could see that, but his anger was all because of how useless he felt. Merida sat on the bench against the wall curled together, her hair falling down over her knees as she had her forehead against them. Eugene sat with his arms crossed against the table staring out at nothing, pascal sat on his shoulder seeking comfort and trying to give it as well. Toothless paced on the ground, he didn't know what had happened, nor how it happened, one moment everyone had been alive and well, then when he woke up Nicholas was dead and Jack seemed to be to blame for that. He couldn't understand, Jack would never hurt them, not without a good reason. Pig was rubbing his head against Hiro's side trying to get any kind of reaction from the young boy. He got a distant pat on the head. Hiccup had gotten into the galley earlier, not saying much, he had sat down next to Eugene trying to get Toothless to calm down, but the panther only whined at him and kept pacing. Hiccup was sad, everyone was sad, and he couldn't take it anymore!

"Why would he do that..?" Hiro mumbled out, breaking the silence that seemed to suffocate the room. He got few reactions form the others showing they listened.

"'e's a traitor; a back stabbing bastard, that is what 'e is." Aster growled, crossing his arms over his chest, earning a glare from Hiccup and didn't say anything else.

The door was thrown open.

"Hiccup!" Rapunzel called out as she ran down the stairs, he got to his feet, giving her a confused, but worried look, everyone in the room looked at her, ready for the worst.

"Rapunzel?"

"It's a miracle, I almost lost hope." She started looking him in the eyes, new tears threatening to fall. "Do you remember the gift Toothiana gave me? The bag, the one I wasn't allowed to open unless I had no other choice?" he nodded after a short moment, still not sure where this was going. "I opened it… and it brought him back." She grabbed Hiccup's arms giving him a light shake, her eyes glittering like thousand stars. "It brought him back from the dead!" Hiccup blinked could it be… no… it couldn't, right? But Rapunzel never lied, and her eyes was so bright and full of hope.  
Then she voiced what everyone in the galley needed to hear "Nicholas is Alive!"

"Really!?" Aster said staring at her, mouth open as he pushed himself away from the wall. "Ye better not be lying-" He started.

"I **never** lie!" Rapunzel said cutting him of. "Nicholas is alive and he's up on deck. If you don't believe me go and look for yourself."  
It wasn't that, they didn't believe her; it was just that they wanted to see Nicholas alive, that they hurried up the stairs.

Nicholas turned around when he heard the sharp intake of breath behind him, and turned his head around to find Aster standing there, in the open door of the galley, he took some stiff steps forward, before Merida ran past him, showing him out of the way.

"Yer back!" she cried out throwing herself in his arms clinging to him. He laughed holding her close.

"I'm back, lass." He said.  
The entire crew appeared from the galley. Tadashi gave Hiro a light shove in the back, before the boy ran up and hugged Nicholas as well.

"How?" Aster gaped moving closer, eyes wide and not sure where to put his hands.

"Magic." Tip chipped from there she stood. "There was this golden sand and light that swirled around in the room and then disappeared after it landed over Nicholas, and then Nicholas woke up as if he'd just been asleep." She said grinning big, her cheeks and eyes red from the tears she shed in pure happiness.

Hiccup walked over to the man after the shock had lifted from him.

"Nicholas!" he shouted jabbing Nicholas in the chest, hard. "If you do anything, and I mean _anything_! Like that again I will bring you back to life and kill you **myself**." He said glaring into those blue eyes

"Rodger that, captain." Nicholas said and chuckled, Hiccup glared for a moment longer before his angry expression wavered and he exhaled deeply letting his head fall against Nicholas chest.

"Don't scare me like that…" he whispered out in a silent plea. Nicholas smiled and patted him on the back.

"Sorry son."

"Uh… um… not to break your moment!" Astrid suddenly called from where she stood back on her ship. "But we got company." Everyone turned in union to the fjord. "The marines caught up with us." The marine ship moved fast, and if you looked closely you could see and angry Hans in the front. "What are you planning to do?!" Astrid shouted looking at Hiccup, but her question wasn't about the marines, it was about Jack.

"I'm going to put an end to this." Hiccup said and began to move towards the helm. "We're going to put an end to all of this and get Jack back" He heard how Aster gave away sound that clearly indicated that he wanted to protest, but Hiccup cast a look towards him; to find how both Eugene and Rapunzel held their hands over his mouth giving him a glare.  
Astrid gave him a sharp nod and started to shout out orders, Hiccup followed and shouted out orders to his crew as well; Nicholas pulled up the anchor with help from Eugene and Tadashi and the ship jerked into motion out to towards the open waters.  
Speeding up but the Deadly Nadder hadn't moved from its position. Hiccup turned his head around. "Astrid?!" he shouted out. She looked at him and smiled.  
The distance getting bigger.

"Go! I will hold them back!" she shouted. Hiccup was just about to turn the Bewilderbeast around to help her against the marines, but Astrid shouted out at him again making him stop turning the helm. "GO! JACK NEEDS YOU!" Hiccup opened his mouth to reply when Astrid continued. "I CAN HANDLE THIS, DON'T WORRY! GO! BRING AND END TO THIS AND GET JACK BACK!" and with that she turned back to her crew, the Deadly Nadder turned around slowly so that it was facing the marine ship with its side, taking up the entire fjord.  
Hiccup heard how she ordered her crew to ready the cannons. Then the exploding and whistling sound from fired cannonballs took over and he saw how the Marine ship returned fire.

Hiccup stared before he forced his teeth together and took up his compass and looked down at the needle, it wobbled at first, before it pointed at the north, straight ahead. He then shouted out orders, to roll out all of the sails, for maximum speed.

"Wait for us Jack… I will put an end to this… all of it, I promise."

The Nightmare Dragon moved slowly over the waters, the ship creaked. Drago had a satisfied smirk on his lips.

"You look pleased." Gothel said as she walked up the stairs, casting an eye at Alpha who growled at her. "Anything you want to share, captain?"

"The Night Fury's captain won't bother us anymore. And the Fountain is in our grasps." Gothel smiled big. Her pale eyes shining.

"Oh I can't wait."

Eret tried, he really did to get to talk to Jack, but each time he tried it was as if his jaws got held together and his body stuck to the floor, or Pitch was close to the boy, keeping an eye on him. But Eret noticed that the hypnosis and second in command looked more tired than before.

"What's wrong? Is he fighting back?" he asked in a growl looking at Pitch. "Or have your powers gone weaker." Pitch glared at him grabbing a hold of his throat.

"Shut up your insolent brat, or I will silence you." Eret didn't let fear take over, he just glared back at Pitch.

"Or is it I who tires you?" that would be something. Pitch growled and threw him to the floor before he walked away towards his cabin. He looked out over deck, finding Jack, and a silent order must have been called because Jack began to move towards them Just as Pitch were about to close the door behind them Eret took all his anger and put into words. "I hope you _rot_ in something worse than **hell**." Pitch just chuckled at him.

"I'm not going to die." And with that he closed the door. Eret forced his teeth together before he turned around on his heel and stormed away taking a broom and began to aggressively swap the deck.

Pitch looked at Jack, the teen was trembling all over, from exhaustion. Pitch noticed the big bruise that had formed on the teens left cheek, blooming all the way from his ear to his nose and up to his eyebrow, that Pooka could swing a good punch. Jack was sitting on the bed, the staff leaning against the wall next to it. Pitch snapped his fingers, and Jack flinched as the yellow dimmed a bit. He gasped for breath and he grabbed the sheets in his hands. As he cast a frightened look at Pitch.

"I'm not angry with you." The man said in a soft voice. "It was not your fault you missed your target." Jack looked down at the bed.

"Wha- Ow." Jack winched and moved his fingers to his cheek, to the bruise. He placed his fingers against it before he winched again taking them away even from the lightest of touch.

"I warned you… I told you that they never believed in you, not really isn't that proof enough?" Pitch took up a small vial before he moved across the cabin to stand in front of Jack, who looked up at him thru the white mop of hair that fell down at his eyes. "That got to hurt…" he moved his greyish hand and placed it on the bruise, Jack winched at the touch. "But, that's not all… is it." He removed his hand. "What do you want?" he asked and studied Jack; the teens eyes returned to the bed. The room grew silent.

"…it hurts…" he said then breaking the silence, lowering his head. "Hurts… so much… I can't take it anymore…" his voice was thin and broken.

"I can make your pain go away, you only have to ask." Pitch said, still with that soft voice. He sat down in front of Jack moving his hand and lifted Jacks head so that he could look into Jack's eyes. "All you have to do is to ask, and I will make all your pain go away." Jack looked at him, tears on the break of falling.

"Please…" he then said. "Please, Master." Pitch smirked as the first tear started to roll down Jacks cheek. Pitch caught the tear in the vial, he put the cork in, before he let the vial fall to the bed and took a gentle hold of Jacks head.

"As you wish." Pitch whispered closing Jack's eyes with his thumbs, before he took over. Jack felt how his control of his body started to slip, the pain slipped away along with it so he accepted it, and soon the never ending darkness took over cold like water of a lake, giving a feeling of being under water, floating, he blinked looking up into the darkness above, faint words echoed around him before he let his eyes close. The last part of him stopping its fight against Pitch growing control and soon Pitch controlled him just as well as he did the Nightmare men.

Pitch walked out from the cabin, holding the vial in his hand. Before he walked up the stairs to Drago and Gothel.

"I got the tears." He said and smirked. Drago nodded and Gothel gave away a laugh clapping her hands together.

"That's great we got the three chalices of Winter Rose, the tear from a broken heart now we only need the blood from a healer and the fountains water." Eret said there he stood leaning against the railing, glaring at Pitch as he spoke.

"Where do we find a healer?" Dagur asked there he sat on the railing next to Eret. "I mean, it must be someone special right? Or does just a doctor work?" Drago cast him a glare

"I know who." Pitch said and smirked an evil smile. "She will work perfectly."

"Who?" Gothel asked with a frown.

"She will work perfectly." Pitch chuckled to himself "The green eyed doctor." Eret felt his body grow stiff, he _knew_ who Pitch talked about. The second in command cast him a gaily look and smirk. " _Don't interfere._ " echoed in Eret's mind.  
Oh but oh, he would interfere so much, if he only knew how to get around Pitch control, he was not going to let this monster of a man get away with this. He glared daggers back at the man who chuckled.


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

The Bewilderbeast moved fast over the oceans dark waters, small icebergs floated here and there as they got further north. For the moment the crew were gathered in the galley, expect for Aster who sat up in the birds nest covered by blankets and thick clothes against the cold, as he kept a watchful eye over the waters.  
Nicholas cooking dinner and humming on Hiccup and Jack's song. If you didn't know, it was as if nothing changed, but if you knew you could see the difference. Hiro ate from the bread slowly, he still had a hard time to understand why Hiccup was going after Jack and the crew after all that happened.

"Why are we going after him?" he asked. Tadashi gave him a confused look, and the other crew members looked up. "Jack I mean…" Hiro filled in. "I thought you said he was your friend, then why did he do that?" Hiccup sighed and were about to start talking but Rapunzel spoke before him.

"He _is_ our friend, it wasn't his fault; he was controlled by Pitch."

"Controlled?" Hiro and Tip looked at her in confusion.

"Pitch Black is a hypnotist; a strong one, he can control people to do as he wish." Hiccup said. "He has been controlling Jack now and then, even when he was on our ship. He ordered him to kill me once earlier." Everyone stared at him in shock, no one knew about that expect Rapunzel.

"I hit him in the head with my frying pan, when he woke up again Pitch had lost his grip." But from everyone's stares she filled in "Noting serious happened."

"So that's what happened." Nicholas said turning away from the stove.

"Other times we broke the control by talking to him." Eugene said, remembering the time when the teen had been haunted by nightmares.

"Then why didn't that work this time?" Hiro asked still confused. Rapunzel sighed, the door to the Galley opened and Aster stumbled inside.

"All clear." He said before he walked over to the stove and rubbed his hands together to get warm again. Rapunzel started talking after a while.

"From what I know, I can be wrong, is that there are three types of ways to control someone." She said looking at all of them to make sure they listened. "The first one is the control of someone's body, it's easy and most Hypnotist can do it, that control put's pain on the body of the controlled." Everyone listened. "Then there is the control of the mind." She said "It is harder and the hypnotist must concentrate on what he or her wants to do. This put's more pain on the hypnotist, and leaves the one controlled confused and disorientate afterwards." She looked at Toothless who tilted his head at her. "The third version of control over others is the full control, then the hypnotist control both the mind and body of the controlled. This only the strongest of hypnotists can pull off. If the person being controlled fight back it put strain on the hypnotist. But if this type of control is going on for too long, the person being controlled slowly withers away, from lack of nutrition's and lack of sleep, in the end the controlled will become noting but skin and bone... with no hope of survival if the control gets broken."

"How do ya break the third?" Merida asked. Rapunzel looked at her.

"I don't know… it all depends on how strong the hypnotist is… and how much fighting back the controlled can do."

"So… if Pitch is having full control over Jack… there's no hope in getting him back?"

"If we hurry to catch up with them, we might have a chance, but I can't say anything for sure…" he gave them a sad smile.

"What about that magic sand that brought Nicholas back to life? Can't it help?" Eugene asked.

"All of it flew to Nicholas, I have nothing left of it… sorry."

"Then what do we do?" Hiro asked worry in his voice.

"We Try." Hiccup said.

Eret paced left and fourth on deck, the moon was high and shone down over him, turning the dark ship into a hue of silver.

"Damn it all… I have to do something… but what!?" he crossed his arms over the railing, and looked down at the water that passed by. "If I don't do something, Jack will end up like the nightmare men, I can't let it get that far." He growled, something red then suddenly moved under the water and he blinked, searching the waters before a head covered by a plume of red hair shot up from the waters, and he found himself eye to eye with a mermaid. She swam alongside the ship not looking away from Eret. "Uh… hi…" Eret said when he got his tongue to work again.

"You know Jack?" she asked narrowing her eyes at him. He gave her a stiff nod.

"Yeah, he's my friend, but I can't help him no matter how much I want to..." why was he talking with a mermaid as if it was a long lost friend?

"He saved me from drying out on a beach." She said. "I owe him my life." Eret looked back towards where he knew the rest of the crew; that still had a mind of their own, was sleeping, a nightmare man stood at the helm keeping the ship from changing course. "If you can't help, I can." Eret looked back down at her in confusion.

"What?"

"I can help, I can repay him like this." Eret looked down at her, before he gave away a nod.

"Wait there, I'll be back." He ran to the room that was for him, Dagur and Jack, he searched around for a moment before he found what he searched for, a piece of paper, and a bottle, he walked out from the room and took up a piece of coal, he returned to the railing looking down, the mermaid was still there, he bite around the cork of the bottle and took it out, with a loud plop the smelled what was inside, and grimaced. Rum. One bottle less wouldn't be missed, he turned it upside down outside the ship, the alcohol falling into the water, the mermaid frowned at him.

"'orry." He said around the cork, before he started to write on the piece of paper with the coal, he read thru it and nodded, that would work. He rolled it together and dried the inside of the bottle with his shirt the best he could, before he put the roll into the bottle and put the cork back.

"What are you doing?" the mermaid asked.

"A message." He said. "I never asked for your name."

"I'm Ariel, and you?"

"Eret, my name is Eret. Could you deliver this to the crew on the Night Fury?" he held the bottle so that she could see it. "I hope it will be of help for Jack." She nodded. Eret let go of the bottle, it hit the waters and went under for a moment before it jumped up again swaying on the waves.

"Farwell Eret." She said and took the bottle in her hand before she disappeared down under the surface, but he saw how she darted away towards the south.

"Hope it is enough…" Eret mumbled out.

Ariel swam fast thru the waters, holding the bottle in her hands she saw a ship further up ahead, she swam up to the surface so that her eyes were over the surface, the ship was big and grey in the light of the moon, but she saw the flag and recognised it. It was the same flag that had been on the ship back at Fairy Cove. She swam towards the ship, if Eret wanted her to deliver the message to them, then they must be good people. She swam up to the surface again, seeing that Toothless along with some of the crew members were on deck, she gripped the bottle harder before she shot up from the ocean and grabbed a hold of the railing almost falling down to the waters again. She heard a surprised yelp and some stumbling feet, a thud and a growl.

"Toothless!" she called out, the panther that had been growling at her stopped and his pupils dilated and he gave away a surprised sound running up to her.

"Toothless..?" she heard a female voice ask. Ariel looked up finding a three people stare at her, a blond woman, a brown haired man, and a young tanned girl who was sitting on the deck, they were all staring at her. Toothless gave away a sound and ran up to the man buffing him to go closer.

"I believe this must be the mermaid Jack helped…" he said, and walked over towards the mermaid, who still clung to the railing.

"Jack saved my life." Ariel said and smiled. She then remembered the bottle. "Oh! I have a message-" She held out the bottle towards Hiccup, giving away a surprised sound when she nearly fell from the railing. "Eret asked me to send it to you." She clung to the railing moving her green tail a bit to get a better hold of it. "He told me he can't do anything." The man took the bottle giving her a worried look.

"Who's Eret?" the tanned girl asked.

"One of Jack's friends, his only friend, on the Nightmare Dragon, Eret were the one who helped him escape when we were in Arendelle." The blond woman answered.

"Thank you… uh…" The man looked at the mermaid. Ariel blinked before she smiled.

"I'm Ariel."

"Thank you Ariel." He said and smiled "I'm Hiccup, the captain of the Bewilderbeast, and this is Rapunzel the doctor and Tip, her student." He looked at Toothless. "You seem to already know Toothless." Ariel smiled and nodded.

"Hope we meet again." She said. "And can you send my regards to Jack when you meet him?" Hiccup nodded.

"Farwell." Ariel grinned showing her teeth, before she pushed herself away from the railing and disappeared into the waters.

Hiccup looks after her before he looks down at the bottle, and first now notices the rolled paper, he moved towards the galley, Toothless close behind and Rapunzel and Tip following after giving each other a confused look.

Hiccup walked down the stairs before he sat down at the table, starting to try to get the piece of paper out from the bottle.

"Oh? What is this?" Nicholas turned around from there he stood washing the dishes. "Message in a bottle?"

"Yeah." Hiccup said and got the paper out from the bottle, he put the bottle on the table, a faint smell of rum coming from it. The others looked at the paper, Merida had been sitting at the table earlier and leaned closer to read what stood on the paper, but the stile it was written in was too hard for her.

"What does et say?" she asked looking at Hiccup. Hiccup skimmed thru the text before he looked up finding most of his crew looking at him. He cleared his throat and began to read.

"Captain of the Night Fury." He started. "We've never met eye to eye, but from what Jack have told me you and your crew must be really goodhearted people. I don't ask for you to trust me, but I know you treat Jack well, because each time Pitch snatches him back he looks healthier than when he managed to escape, on his own or with my help. I do hope you know what my captain is searching for. The Fountain of youth, and I hope you know what is needed for its power to work, but I will remind you anyway… you need the tree chalices of the Winter Rose; the tears from a broken heart; blood from a healer and the water from the fountain." Hiccup stopped for a moment getting a glass of water from Nicholas, he drank from it, before he continued. "I'm sure you already know most of this, and wonder why I would write this to begin with, so I'm going to get to the point, I write to you now because I fear for Jack's and another member of your crew's life, I don't know her name, but from what I understand your doctor is in grave danger, in the pages from Overland's logbook it stood that the blood have to be fresh and not just a drop. I still don't ask you to trust me, but please, head my warning, Drago, Pitch and Gothel will stop at nothing to get what they want, I believe you already know that from what they did last time. So please, stay safe, I will try my best to help Jack back on the Nightmare Dragon, but I can't do much, Pitch has made me unable to interfere. Eret." Hiccup looked up from the paper and let it curl in on its own again. He blinked before he looked at Rapunzel.

"Rapunzel?" Tip asked worriedly. "You're not a healer." She said.

"Healer is a word for someone who heals people, a doctor is a healer in a way." Nicholas said, his voice dark. "This is worrying." He looked at Hiccup. "What are we going to do, captain?" Hiccup looked back to the curled paper biting at his lower lip furrowing his brows as he thinks.

"We keep our course, and get Jack back." Rapunzel says, making Hiccup's head snap up.

"They want you." Eugene says, unhappiness in his voice but also worry.

"How will they get me? We are on our ship, and the Nightmare Dragon is ahead of us." She looks at him.

"We 'ave no idea how Pitch powers work, for all we know 'e might be able to travel thru shadows." Aster says crossing his arms over his chest.

"Hiccup?" Tadashi, Merida and Hiro looks at him. He sighs.

"Let's hope he can't travel thru shadows…" he says.

"How do you plan to get the healer and who is it?" Gothel asks and looks at Pitch with a questioning glare.

"Oh, my dear Gothel, the answer's easy." He knots his fingers in his lap there he sits in his chair behind the desk.

"Do tell." She crosses her arms over her chest.

"The doctor of the Night Fury." Pitch says.

"Oh? And why is this puny doctor's blood worth it?"

"I do believe you will like her." Pitch chuckles, Gothel glares at him.

"What is _he_ saying about it?" she motions with her hand at Jack, who standing at the side of the door, no expression on his face, the bruise has calmed but is still clear, he's holding the staff in his hand, and looks out at nothing.

" _He's_ not saying anything. He won't run away again, he's under my full control." Pitch said and dismissed her statement with an annoyed glare. "You on the other hand is growing into an annoyance." She gave him an angry glare and placed her hand on her chest; in a mock gesture of hurt.

"Why you insolent- Fine. But I will drink from the chalice that gives extended life and you won't, my beauty will never end." Pitch just rolled his eyes at her.

"Out." He ordered and pointed at the door, she flinched when her body turned around and she was forced out from the room in a fast march, Jack opened the door for her and closed it behind her.

"PITCH BLACK! YOU BASTARD! I WILL MAKE YOU REGRET THAT!" Gothel shouted form behind the door and he heard how she kicked it before her heels signalled that she stormed away.

"Ugh that woman in a pain..." Pitch groaned covering his eyes with his hand and sighed. A knock on the door made him look up, he moved his free hand and Jack opened the door without saying a word. " _Oh~_ Captain." Pitch said and smirked holding out his hands. "What can I do for you?" Drago cast a look at Jack.

"I see you've finally taken control over him." The man muttered. "The fountain would have been ours now, if you've done this form the very beginning with Overland."

"Overland was to strong minded. Even for me that would be far to draining. Also, where would the fun have been in that?"

"Are you mad?" Drago asked glaring at him.

"I'm surprised, that you of all people, on this very ship, is asking _me_ that." Drago grunted in reply.

"Patience captain, everything will work just as we want it to in the end."

"I'm starting to question where your loyalty lies."

"Don't worry. My. Dear. Captain. I won't stab you in the back." Pitch said and took a grape between his fingers before stopping it into his mouth. "You have nothing to fear."


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Aster glared out over the waters arms crossed over the railing. A shiver wracked thru his body from time to time. He cursed the freezing weather and wind under his breath.  
The morning was early and most of the crew slept deeply, or lied staring up at the ceiling.

"You look like you are about to explode." a voice said behind him, Aster flinched, he hadn't expected the man to be awake after all that happened. Aster turned his head to look over his shoulder, but he didn't say anything. "What's troubling you?" Nicholas walked up to the railing beside him and leaned against it. Aster sighed and looked down at the waters.

"Conflicted feelings… 's all" he mumbles out. Nicholas hummed and silence took over the ship again.

"This is about Jack, isn't it?" Nicholas said in a serious voice breaking the silence.  
Aster lifted his head breathing out a cloud of air, before he gave a slow nod.

"I'm not sure I can face 'im when this is over…" Aster said "He reminds me of my sister…"

"Pookahontas?" Nicholas asked, Aster nodded. "Then what is problem?"

"I hit him." Aster looked at Nicholas "I care about the kid, and I hit him, despite how confused and scared he looked." Nicholas looked at him raising one eyebrow.

"When was this?"

"After you jumped, and saved Hiccup…" Aster looked away "I thought you were dead, and I became so angry… at him… I snapped… the next thing I know my throat feels raw and he's on the ground." Nicholas studied the tanned man before he sighed.

"Well, talking is option-" he started but was cut off.

"That won't work!" Aster snapped looking at Nicholas with wide eyes "I will only end up making things worse!"

"Ach son." Nicholas said wafting the comment away "Your problem is that you act fast, then overthink choice." Nicholas poked Aster on the chest as he spoke, before he smiled and held out his arms and giving the tanned man a nod. "Now, why don't you come here, so I can give needed you hug?" Aster rolled his eyes but breathed out a chuckle but it turned to a choked sound when Nicholas hugged around him a bit too hard.

"Glad yer alive, mate." Aster mumbled into Nicholas shoulder, patting him on the back in a way to show that: yes, Nicholas could let go of him now. The man laughed and hugged tighter before he let go, patting Aster on the shoulder.

"It will all play out alright in the end, no?" Aster sighed at him but nodded.

"Hope it does, mate, I hope it does."

The snow blew in from the entrance to the outside, making the water in the fountain quiver.

"This is bad…" Kira mumbled as she looked at the water in the stream. "They have gotten closer."

"How far away?"

"Three four days… least." Kira said turning around to look at Peter, the boy hovered in the air, Tinkerbell flying close to him. His red hair stood out against the green hat that covered his head.

"Then we have enough time." He said and laughed.

"Peter, this is serious."

"I am serious!" He looked almost offended by her statement. "It's just you grownups that are so dull." She sighed and cast him a tired look.

"Yes, yes." She said and began to walk Peter flew after her.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"For the moment get your mind onto the concept that if the ones that search for the fountain finds it, there is a high risk they find this place as well, you know how Overland's crew acted." Peter grimaced.

"But he didn't steal anything."

"No, but he didn't stop his men either."

"Then what about Milo? They looked for the fountain as well!"

"Milo is not like those people!" Kida said voice angry. Peter held up his hands in surrender.

"So?" he asked

"We get stay alert." He nodded at that and was about to fly away but Kita grabbed his ankle stopping him. "Tell the lost boys that if they find someone on this side of the cave, who's not from here, they to bring them to me." She let go of him.

"Right." He nodded and flew away.

Pitch stood at the big window looking out over the ocean and the sun was setting, if you looked towards the north you could see the edge of ice and snow on the frozen landscape.

"Jack." He said, he heard shuffling behind him.

"Yes, Master?"

"Someone you know is soon to bring you company." Pitch said and grinned and turned around to face his slave. "Don't let her escape."

"Yes Master." Jack's voice was unemotional and levelled, he louvered his head in a short bow.

"Now. I have a doctor to catch." Pitch left the cabin, Jack one step behind.

The closest Nightmare men looked up at him as he walked out to deck moving away to give him space.

"Ready the lockup!" Pitch called "We are going to have a very special guest visiting!" Eret grabbed the broom harder and forced his teeth shut. Damn it, DAMN IT! He thought and only loosened his grip when he heard a crack from the broom. Drago laughed there he stood at the helm and gave Pitch a nod. Pitch laughed a darkly before the shadows from the setting sun grew darker and Pitch vanished into one of them.

"How aren't you even slightly worried?" Eugene asked walking after Rapunzel on deck, she was moving from the galley towards the doctor's office, he was carrying a bunt of newly made bandages to be put in the room. Rapunzel carried a big bottle of medical alcohol. "I mean, it's the Nightmare Dragon." Eugene said

"I'm not worried, because they won't be able to get to me. There's only water ahead, no island to make an ambush from." She smiled at him. "They are strong, I know that." She turned around to face him walking backwards. "I'm not afraid."

" _Maybe you should._ " A voice said behind her, she flinched the bottle of alcohol falling to the deck and shattered. She stiffened when a pair of strong but cold swirls of shadow took a hold of her, one covered her mouth and another secured her arms. She gave away angry muffled sounds. Trying to get free from the shadows grip.  
Pitch appeared in the shadow, the swirls holding her turning into a pair of hands, one over her mouth another holding her arms behind her back in a secure way. His yellow eyes shining bright and his teeth glimmered He sneered down at her. "Hello my dear doctor." He said before he looked up at Eugene.

"You..." Eugene said anger falling into his voice. Pitch laughed. Eugene dropped the bandages clenching his fists "Let go of her!" he shouted.

"UNHAND ME YOU BASTARD!" she shouted kicking and twisting in Pitch grip, but his grip didn't budge.

"You're a feisty one." Pitch said in an unimpressed voice before he lifted his hand and moved it over Rapunzel's head " **Sleep**." he ordered. Yellow flashed over her eyes, she flinched and fought to keep them open but her eyelids grew heavier and heavier before a tired sigh left her lips and she went limp in his arms. "That's better." he chuckled.

"RELEASE HER!" Eugene shouted unsheathing his sword and moved to attack, but something grabbed a hold of his ankle and he was thrown against the opposite wall, his head snapping against the wood at the impact, he sank to deck with a pained groan, but he got to his feet again holding the sword in both hands. "Give her back..!" he called out trying to keep himself on his feet. Pitch snorted at him in annoyance. Eugene attacked again, but slower this time. "Give me back **_my_** Rapunzel!" Pitch grunted before he raised his free hand and snapped his fingers, Eugene gave away a choked sound as he collapsed to the ground his feet not moving. Pitch kicked the sword away from his hand. Eugene glared up at him.

"That's quit a confession, for a dump-rat like yourself." Pitch said looking down at him like a predator studying his pray. "I don't have time for you." He then said and something in his eyes changed. Pitch turned around carrying Rapunzel with him, the shadows started to swallow them, when Eugene felt how he could feel his feet again.

"NO!" he shouted out scrambling to his feet "RAPUNZEL!" and ran towards them.  
Reaching.  
Almost!  
Just a little more.  
He felt his fingers get a hold of fabric.

The wall hit him in the face making him stumbled backwards seeing stars. He collapsed to deck the world spinning.

"Eugene!" he heard Tip cry out and soon five people took up his blurry vision, he blinked and it cleared. Hiccup, Merida, Tadashi, Aster and Tip looked down at him. He blinked, the starry sky along with them growing clearer.

"Eugene, what happened? Where's Rapunzel?" Tadashi asked in confusion, but he also heard the slight worry.

"Rapunzel-!" Eugene choked out bolting into a sitting position, but groaned when the world started to spin again, moving his hand to his face in a way to calm his swimming head, first now feeling fabric in his hand, he looked down seeing that it was Rapunzel's headband. "Pitch! He took her!" he said getting to his feet grabbing a hold of Hiccup's upper arms "They took her!"

"Eugene calm down-" Aster started but was quickly over voiced.

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN YOU DAMNED POOKA! THEY TOOK _RAPUNZEL_! SHE'S **GONE!** "

"Eugene, breathe, and tell me what happened." Hiccup said in a calm voice getting Eugene's attention again. The brown-haired man was breathing hard and fast, and he was panicking, Eugene took a deep breath trying to calm down.

"Pitch- He appeared form the shadows. He took Rapunzel by surprise, she put up a fight, but he made her sleep and then he disappeared into the shadows with her, and now she's gone..." Hiccup nodded. Merida gave Eugene a sad look.

"They need the blood fresh, they won't kill 'er." Merida said trying to sun reassuring. Silence took over them, only Eugene's harsh breathing was heard, but it calmed slowly.

"Maybe Eret… Eret might be able to help her!" Tip said with big eyes. Tadashi gave her a sad smile.

"Let's hope he does… let's hope…" he mumbled out.

Rapunzel woke slowly, something warm was placed over her and the sound of waves hitting the hull made her more aware, other noises was brought to her, the creaking of wood and the thumping of steps around her. A smell of old and musty made her frown and slowly blinking her eyes open.  
She didn't recognise this place, and she became alert of her soundings in an instant. She sat up with a jerk, looking around in a haste: she was in a small room, old wooden walls with mould growing in the edges of it, in front of her rusty bars made a door, she got to her feet, fining a small window on the wall that was in a darker material, it must be the hull she decided, she looked out seeing dark waters outside, and shards of ice floating past the ship. Approaching steps brought her back to her surroundings and she grabbed the sail and lied down again closing her eyes. She heard how the steps stopped outside the door, she took a slow breath, and breathed out as slow, to appear to be asleep.

"I got orders from the captain to deliver food to the guest." A strong voice said to someone she hadn't noticed. A shuffle was heard and she fought against herself, she wanted to open her eyes and see, but doing that meant showing whoever the voice belonged to that she was awake. She heard the lock klick and then the squeaking of the door opening, steps moving inside, and then she heard the door close again, and the lock clicking again. She heard shuffling before the clink of something being placed on the floor. "How long did he force you to sleep..?" the voice asked in what she thought was concern. The voice was male, so much she knew, and around Hiccup age… if she thought correctly. She heard him sigh before she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, wake u-" she grabbed a hold of his wrist and in the momentum jumped from the "bed" and shoved the man into the ground, a knee digging into his back as she held his arm behind his back, her other hand forcing his head down. A pained groan came from the man.

"Who are you? And where am I?" Rapunzel spat out in a controlled and strong voice. The man shuffled under her, the best he could under her weight, she might not look like much but she was strong.

"Ugh… Calm down!" The man said in a pained voice. Only making Rapunzel frown and forced his arm up higher.

"Who. Are. You. And. Where. Am. I." she said again ore force behind her words and her knee digging deeper after each word.

"You're on the Nightmare Dragon!" the man said trying to turn his head to look at her, but she pushed his head down harder.

"And you are?!" the man had back hair in a ponytail, a white shirt and a blue belt with white squares on.

"I'm Eret." Rapunzel blinked, that surprised her.

"Eret?" Rapunzel said taken aback, it wasn't a lie, she knew that.

"Yes- I'm Eret- Now can you _please_ get off me!?" Rapunzel let go and got to her feet. Stepping to the side and sat down where she had been fake sleeping just a moment ago. Eret sat up with a groan grimacing and massaged his back where her knee had dug in, he was positive to get a bruise.

"Sorry…" she said. Eret was moving his arm and looked at her, he had a warm but worn look in his brown eyes. He gave her a smile. Before he let his arms fall to his lap.

"You're stronger than you look." He said massaging his neck tilting his head form right to left. "You took me by surprise."

"That was the point." She said giving him an apologizing smile. "Why didn't you tell me you were Eret from the beginning?"

"I didn't get any time, and I didn't know you were awake." He sighed and looked to the side, before he reached for something, and then she found a brick with a half loaf of bread and water in front of her. "Here. Eat. I know it's not much… but it's better than nothing." She took the brick and lifted the bread to eat when a growl came from Eret's stomach, and he looked away clearly flustered.

"You're hungry!" she said gaping at him. "And still you give me all this!"

"Eat." He said in a hard tone, not turning his head. "I've already eaten." That was the biggest flat out lie she heard in her entire life! She took the bread in her hand and tor it in half.

"Eret." She said, the man turned to look at her, she held out the half of bread towards him, he stared at it before he stared at her, scandalized.

"No. It's for you!" he said holding up his hands like a wall between him and the bread.

"I'm a doctor." She said "Nicholas our chef cooked a big dinner." She said. "Eat this or I'll be forcing you to eat all of it." Eret stared at her and she glared right back her determination not wavering the slightest. Eret grumbled something under his breath and snatched the piece of bread she held out towards him, and took a big bite. She grinned at him before she started to eat as well, the smile still lingering on her lips. But then her mind started to wander. What rightminded captain treated his crew like this?

"I'm not a member of his crew." Eret said as if he could read her thoughts. "I'm just as much of a slave as Jack; but under the captain and not Pitch." The man looked at her as if what he said would explain everything, and sadly… it did.

"How is he?" she asked with a worried voice, putting the remaining bread back on the brick and moved it to the floor again. "Jack I mean." Eret seemed to get several years older.

"I… he's…" he sighed heavy "You won't like to hear about it." Rapunzel reached out and placed her hand on his knee.

"Please." She said "Tell me." Her green eyes bore into him. Eret sighed.

"He's growing thinner and weaker. Not further away from Pitch than the man's arm, and I can do **nothing** about it." He looked at her.

"No, you have done so much for him, more then I probably know." Rapunzel smiled at him, he stared back at her.

" _ERET!_ " a voice suddenly boomed form above, the man visibly flinched, and his eyes grew dark as he glared at the roof.

"I have to go…" he said and got to his feet. "Please eat, it's the least I can do… even my warning to you and your crew didn't work... and I'm sorry that I can't do more."

"It did help, it made us understand the situation and made things more clear, and don't look down on yourself! You have helped us and Jack more than you seem to realize, now let Hiccup and the others do the rest."

"You really believe in them, don't you?" he breathed out as he knocked on the door.

"They're my family." He smiled at her a genuine smile. The door opened and she gasped when she saw the person opening the door, grey skin covering nothing but bones, black hair and empty yellow eyes. She felt her skin crawl and her body grow cold at the sight of the Nightmare man, or was it a woman? She didn't know! Eret looked at her with an apologetic look on his face, before he walked away.

Rapunzel swallowed hard and took a shuddering breath before she looked at the bread. She took it in her hand and got to her feet and walked over to the door.

"Excuse me?" she said looking at the Nightmare man, she didn't get a reaction. It just stood there string out at nothing. Her face fell and she reached out her arm between the bars holding the bread towards the person that once had been a human. "Hey~ here. I got bread! Eat." Still nothing, she didn't hear the steps getting closer.

"That won't work my dear." A voice said and she retreated her arm to glare at the owner of the voice.

"Pitch." She growled out. "When Hiccup gets here he-" her voice got stuck in her throat when her eyes landed on Jack. Pitch chuckled.

"Oh? Did the cat get your tongue?" he asked in a chuckle. "I see you haven't forgotten about him."

"Jack!" Rapunzel cried out staring at him with wide eyes. "Jack please, it's me! It's Rapunzel." No reaction was seen on his face. "You bastard!" she shouted glaring at Pitch. "You will regret this!" Pitch smirked at her.

"Will I?" Pitch asked and leaned forward so that they were at eye level, Rapunzel grabbed the bars glaring into his yellow eyes, no fear shown on her face.

"WHEN HICCUP GET'S HERE, HE WONT FORGIVE YOU FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" she shouted.

"I have no fear for your puny captain." Pitch said in a levelled voice. "I will kill him with my own hand if I have to-" Rapunzel spat him in the face shutting him up.

"Don't underestimate him." she growled out. Pitch stroked the spit away from his face not saying a word. "We're strong. As long as there's a breath in our throats and a beat in out chest **we will fight**. You are on the losing end Pitch, and you know it!" The slap echoed around them and Rapunzel grimaced when Pitch grabbed her jaw.

"Be glad we need your blood **fresh** , my dear." He said in a voice so cold the hairs on her body stood on end. "Because it's the only thing keeping you alive."


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Hiccup sat down in the galley, a knife in hand and a piece of dark wood in his other, the knife followed his moments, never cutting too far or wrong. Nicholas stood preparing dinner and hummed on a song he heard long ago, but forgotten the lyrics. Hiro, Aster and Merida sat on the end of the table making more explosive arrows. They were probably going to be useful. Eugene moved around in his way of trying to think of something else than the fact that Rapunzel were at the Nightmare Dragon's mercy. Tip ran after him trying to get him to stay still or just stop moving, he was hurt and since she was the closest to doctor they had now it was her responsibility to make sure no one got hurt. The hit Eugene had gotten to his head when he had fought Pitch had become a big bump on the back of his head, and he swayed on his feet if he turned to fast.

"Eugene for the last time! Will you stay still!" she shouted grabbing his belt and dug her heels into the floor, as he for the fifteenth time was to walk up the stairs to get to deck.

"I can't! Who knows what they do to her, yes they might keep her alive, but they might hurt her either way!" he said. "I have to do something!" he tugged against her grip.

"You're not thinking clear! You hit your head several times, you can barely stand you haven't slept! If you keep this up you won't be able to help her at all!" Tip spat leaning backwards to force him away from the stairs, but they ended up stuck on the spot.

"I can't just sit still and do nothing." He said.

"No? Then come 'ere and 'elp us work." Aster said looking up from the arrow he was holding. Eugene gave away a pained whine, looking at the door before he sighed. Tip let go and he walked over to sit next to Merida.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked Merida gave him an arrow with an oval orb where the sharp point should have been on a normal arrow.

"Fill this with a third of powder." She said. Eugene looked at her and nodded. "By the way… Hiccup? What are ya doing?" Merida asked looking at her captain. Hiccup stopped carving on the small wooden piece and looked up at her.

"Carving." He said.

"What are you carving?" Hiro asked studying the piece of wood that was almost swallowed by Hiccup's hand. The captain laughed before he lifted the piece of wood to look at it from the light of the lantern that hung in the roof, he held a wooden ring between his thumb and index finger. He had carved a quarter completely done, the other part of the ring were still in progress.

"Oh ho." Nicholas said and chuckled. "A present for Jack?" he smiled a knowing smile, Hiccup stared at him, feeling his cheeks heat a bit Aster and Merida smiled warmly making Hiro look confused between them. Hiccup looked down at the ring, it was carved with hints from the northern clans, but also from Berk, the wood seemed to move over and under its self like braided ropes, but snowflakes and the dragon symbol of the Night Fury was carved into it as well where the ropes met.

"Yeah…" Hiccup answered and started carving again.

"But why give him a ring?" Hiro asked looking at Merida and Aster.

"Yer still young." Aster said smirking

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hiro said in an annoyed voice. Aster chuckled. But didn't say anything. "What?!"

"Do ya know about courting gifts?" Merida asked. Tip moved up to them and sat down at the table

"…No…" Hiro said slowly. "Should I?" Tadashi walked down from deck, hugging round himself to get warm again, he had kept watch from the bird nest.

"Land…" he said. "I see land and the Nightmare Dragon. That ship stands out against the white."

"It's no land there, it's only ice and snow." Hiccup said looking up from the carved ring.

"Then please, explain to me how there can be a mountain of rocks if the place is made of ice." Tadashi said gesturing to the door. "Because either I'm getting so cold I'm see things; or so do the place exist on land." Hiccup left the knife down on the table and got to his feet.

"What?" he walked up to Tadashi who gave him the binocular with a gloved hand.

"See for yourself." He said, Hiccup took the binocular and walked up the stairs, when he opened the door a freezing wind blew into the galley before he closed it behind him.  
The wind hit snowflakes around him and he lifted the binocular towards the northern horizon, his hair was covered in snowflakes as the wind pulled and tugged on his clothes. You could see the land of ice without the binocular clear, but with it, you could see the crew of the Nightmare Dragon, and also see the ship sway in the wind as it moved closer to the ice. But also, if you looked upwards… how the ice and snow turned grey and changed to rocks.  
He heard the door close and Tadashi walked up to him. "See what I mean?" he asked. Hiccup nodded.

"I do."

Silence… when had everything gotten so silent? It was dark, did he have his eye open or not?  
He blinked; he knew he did, but nothing happened, he wanted to look around and move, but his limbs felt heavy as lead.  
Exhaustion hugged around him like a tight hugging boa with razor sharp nails along its sides.  
He wanted to speak, but what was he to say?  
A sound suddenly echoed around him breaking the suffocating silence, but it was incoherent and diffused and it reminded him of being under water, what was the sound, where did it come from..?  
His mind was growing sluggish, and his eyelids fluttered over his eyes, before they closed.  
He was so tried…

Rapunzel wasn't sure how long she's been down there, the lower deck didn't change much from day to night. She had been able to keep up with it at first, but had fallen asleep and now she wasn't sure what day or time it was anymore. Losing the grip of days made her a bit more wary. Eret came now and then, when he could. Sometimes with food; bread and water.

Or they just sat inside the room talking.

"Just out of curiosity…" she had asked one day looking at him. "How did you end up on this ship?" Eret moved a hand thru his hair and sighed.

"Well…" he had started before he had looked up at her. "I was a fisher."

"Fisher?"

"Well… note a fisher really… more a hunter… I fished for the big wildlife; seals, dolphins, sharks sometimes even killer whales, it was me and my crew." A fond smile had grown on his lips. "We managed, we didn't get much, but we managed. I met Drago and his crew after we had had a bad year, we was weak and barely managed to even catch a dolphin." He had frowned before he had continued "Drago helped us, and told us to bring our catch to him instead and he paid more for it that what we had gotten before, and things continued as normal. Till we got the biggest whale I have ever seen on the hook… Monstro he's a whale of a whale..." Something sinister fell into his eyes and he had clenched his fists in his lap staring out at nothing. "He destroyed our ship killed my men… only I survived." Eret had shuffled a bit before he grabbed at the hem of his white shirt. "When I returned emptyhanded to him he gave me this." He had pushed the shirt down to reveal a scar similar to the one Jack had on his back. "He made me his slave, and told me that he would be less forgiving in the future…"

Rapunzel sighed as she thought back to their talk. Crossing her arms over her knees and tilted her head, there wasn't much to do in the small room, and she knew where each twig in the wood was and how many planks the walls were made from. Approaching steps made her look up and she saw Eret stand outside the door, he looked anxious and his shoulders were stiff.

"Eret? What's wrong?" she asked looking up at him.

"I… I got good news and… bad news..." he said. And opened the door and gestured for her to come. "The good news is that you can leave the lookup…" he said and gave her a lopsided smile. She walked up to him. Stepping outside the small room the first thing she noticed was that the nightmare man that had been guarding the door and her were nowhere to be seen.

"And?" she looked at him after he closed the door after her.

"And what?" he looked at her.

"You told me the good news… you said there were bad ones, what is the bad news?" he sighed and turned towards a pair of stairs motioning for her to follow.

"You'll know when we get up on deck." He said, Rapunzel looked at him with studying eyes, before she walked up to his side and followed, he were so much taller than her, she hadn't realized it before, but she didn't even reach to his jaw, even with heels. She for the first time in her life… felt… small.

They walked up the stairs, Eret stood next to her when she stopped dead in her tracks and gasped; nightmare men were all over the deck, all with more or lesser flesh on their bones under their grey skin, but everyone had black hair and yellow empty eyes and emotionless looks on their faces.  
She swallowed, staring at all of them in fear. Eret cast her a worried look subconsciously moving his hand over the scar, before he gave her a pat on the back, she flinched and looked up at him.  
He gave a small nod forward and she looked back out over deck and now saw the frozen land in front of them, getting closer by the second.

"Oh no…" she mumbled out.

"Good. I see you brought our guest." Rapunzel looked up and turned around to glare up at the man who stood at the beginning of the stairs up to the helm, he walked down them and Rapunzel felt her breath get stuck in her throat when she saw Jack, he was thinner and to her fright, his skin was greying, his cheeks were hollowed and he looked closer to the nightmare men than last time she saw him, she felt tears prickle in her eyes.

"Jack." He said in a broken voice. He reacted just as much as the nightmare man she had tried to give bread to the first time. "Come on, please." She looked at him with pleading eyes. She pleaded grabbing Jacks arms giving him a weak shake; FAR TO THIN! "Come back to your senses, _please_!" Pitch only laughed at her.

"It's useless my dear." Pitch said and reached towards her, but Eret took a hold of her arm and pulled her to him giving Pitch a warning glare.

The ship then suddenly jerked to a halt, and she tumbled stepping wrong and she would have fallen if Eret had let go of her arm, but he hadn't and now kept her on her feet with a strong tug.

"We're here!" Drago's voice boomed form the helm, and Rapunzel stared at him when he walked towards her. Alpha snarled at her, making her hide behind Eret.  
The mountain lion was thin, but still strong, but not at all like Toothless, its pale fur were dishevelled and dirty the mane was no exception knots and mishmash covered it, along with dried blood and dirt. Drago only cast her a glance.

"So this is the doctor?" she turned around at the female voice. Finding herself face to face with a middle-aged woman, with black curls almost as bad as Merida's, she had grey eyes that bore into you like spikes. "You said I was going to like her, the only thing I like about her is her hair." The woman said and stood up to glare at Pitch.

"As you wish." Pitch sighed and it was clear he didn't care.

"Are you all blind?!" a fourth voice called, but from the helm. "Have none of you seen that we have been followed?!" Gothel walked up the stairs again and vanished form view.

"It's the Night Fury." Her voice called back in annoyance. "What a pain." Rapunzel felt hope bloom up in her chest and she looked up at Eret, he didn't smile back when he looked down at her, before he looked at Drago.

"What are we going to do, captain?" he asked instead, letting go of Rapunzel who took a step away from him looking at Drago, with worry. Alpha growled at her, and she looked at the mountain lion with unease, she knew not to trust a hungry animal.

"You," Drago pointed at Eret. "Go get the chalices and the tear." He said, Eret nodded and walked away, Rapunzel looked after him in worry. "Gothel, take the girl." Drago then ordered, Rapunzel stiffened when a pair of hands gripped her arms, and Gothel's sharp painted nails dug into the flesh on her arms like claws of a cat. She cast a worried glance up at Gothel who grinned down at her with a satisfied look on her face.

"You're age will do enough." The woman snickered.

"Pitch. Dagur. " Drago then said turning to the second in command and got the other slaves attention, who now stood at the fence at the helm. The hypnotist looked at the captain with a glare. "You two guard the ship, and keep the Night Fury from interfering."

"Oh~ that works so well with me." Pitch said and smiled; all teeth, Rapunzel shivered at the sight. Alpha then looked up and growled loudly as a silent swish was heard, Rapunzel recognized the sound for an arrow, and the next thing she knew an explosion shook the ship. Merida, you have jet again outdone yourself with your miraculous aim, Rapunzel thought feeling herself grin.

"Get a move on!" Drago shouted at Eret who came running carrying the chalices and the vial with the tear, he almost tripped and dropped one of the chalices but caught it again. "Don't break the chalices!" Drago boomed in anger.

"Yes **Sir**!" Eret shouted back with a frown on his face.

Snow covered ice become the ground they stood on. Drago walked first, followed by Gothel, who wasn't really careful with Rapunzel who she tugged after her with an iron grip on the arm, tugging at it so much and hard, Rapunzel swore it was gonna get torn of. Last Eret walked carrying the chalices, she looked back at him now and then, seeing how he had trouble carrying the three at once, along with the tiny vail. The snow blew against them in a freezing strong wind, it was as if the wind didn't want them there and used the snow that fell from the sky to its advantage. But Drago only moved his mantle in front of him and kept going, Rapunzel had trouble keeping her eyes open, and snow stuck to eyelashes, as her hair blew out behind her, tugging at her scalp now and then, she heard Eret give away a complained mumble from time to time when he got her hair in his face. She apologized in her mind, she wasn't sure her lips was going to work nor that he would even hear her.

Merida took up the explosive arrow and placed it on her bow, she stood in the front of the ship, one foot on the railing and one eye closed as she aimed the arrow, counting the wind, the length between the ships, and so much more that was playing big roles in archery. She pulled the arrow back the string giving away a straining sound as it stretched.

"You're clear to go." Hiccup said from the helm. She let go, the arrow swished away, up high in the sky.

"It's gonna miss!" Hiro cried out in fright running up to the railing. "It's gonna miss!"

"Ney." Merida said "It will hit." The arrow that now only was a faint dot against the grey sky started to fall, and then it vanished against the grey of the mountain. "3… 2… 1." Merida counted and as she said one, an explosion hit the front of the Nightmare Dragon. "Ha!" Merida laughed out. "Take that ye bloody bastards!" Merida laughed and punched the air whit her free hand.

"Good shot there, mate." Aster said.

"Time to take out crew members back." Hiccup said and glared at the black ship.


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

"What was that?" Kida turned around; a flock of bird's lifting from a group of trees.

"It sounded like an explosion." Milo said looking at her in worry. "It came from the outside."

"That means they're already here!" Kida spun around to face Milo.

"The lost boys know what to do, and so does everyone else." Milo insured her. "All we have to do now is stay alert, and hope they stay at the fountain." She nodded slowly.

"They're getting closer." Dagur said and cast a look towards Pitch who was the only member of the crew left on the ship. "What are you gonna do about it?!" Pitch frowned at him, before he looked towards the Bewilderbeast. The grey ship swayed in the wind.

"I know what I'm gonna do." Pitch said and turned to Dagur, the slave gave Pitch an unsure look. "Drago was such an idiot for choosing you to guard the ship on your own."

"What?!" Dagur spat, Pitch lifted his hand, and Dagur gave him a confused look, before something blue caught his eye, and his sight shot to Jack, just in time to see the blast of ice, fire.

Whiteness...  
Then a burning pain,  
it felt like he was on fire, even if it was ice that clung to him. Freezing him stuck to the deck, Dagur had seen Jack's powers before, so how come he was still alive. Pitch chuckled at his confusion.

"That look suits you." the man said, looking at Dagur who stood with only his head and chest free from the thickest ice; but was still covered in snow, which held him to the ship like a prisoner.  
Dagur's teeth had already started to clatter. "I would like to kill you now by my own hand, but I don't have time." Pitch smirked at him, before he left.

"Pitch! Hey! WAIT!" Dagur shouted out and tried to move, but he couldn't. By Odin's beard he was a cold!

Pitch walked down the stairs from the helm, he looked over the nightmare men, before he sneered and snapped his fingers, and the nightmare men turned to him. He gave them a silent order and they bowed their heads in reply. A scraping sound reached his hears and he turned his head to find the Bewilderbeast stopping at the edge of the ice. He smiled, everything went according to plan.

Pitch left the Nightmare Dragon with Jack one step behind, he looked towards the direction Drago had gone, before he smirked and made a small motion with his fingers. Jack lifted his staff and pointed at the ship.

"It was such a beautiful ship..." Pitch sighed. As a big blast of ice shot out from Jack's staff, the Nightmare Dragon shattered against the ice and big spikes of it in a greenish colour grew towards the sky. Pitch smiled all teeth as the snow stilled; he cast a look towards Jack who stood leaning heavy on the staff, gasping for air. Pitch frowned before he started to walk, Jack followed, he didn't say anything, but Pitch was still frowning.

"You better not run out of ice before I'm done." He said in a harsh voice.

"...no... Master." Jack said, his voice strained and tired.

Rapunzel stiffened when she heard the loud crashing noise, but she didn't have time to turn around and see, before she was dragged into a small passage, and soon found herself in a big cave. The wind blew in from the opening and had made big dunes of snow in the cave. She then saw the fountain; it was carved out from the mountain, water running down along a big stalactite; smaller ones hung in the ceiling of the cave, and stalagmites covered the floor here and there. The fountain's water was in a clear blue colour, the stone was filled with symbols she recognized some that looked like those Merida used to make or those from Berk, but even other symbols she didn't recognize, she looked around and first now noticed the other carved things, statues of people and animals, some were shattered she noticed, and felt a bit sad about it. In the far corner of the cave she noticed how moss covered the walls, and that made her tilt her head in confusion.  
How could something grow here at this freezing place?

Gothel tugged her arm hard and Rapunzel stumbled on her steps, the heels clappering against the stone.

"Hurry up, we haven't got all day." Gothel spat, before she stopped holding Rapunzel in an iron grip at her side. Eret walked past them before he stopped at the fountain and put the chalices down on the flat stones at the edge of the fountain, the vial in his hand. Drago eyed him before he gave a short.

"You know what to do." He said to Eret who cast Rapunzel a look, she didn't notice it, as she tried to get feeling back in her fingers on the arm that Gothel held. Eret sighed and took out his sword; it glimmered in the light that the fountain reflected, he heard Rapunzel's sharp intake of breath at the sight of it. Eret dipped the swords blade in the water from the fountain, lights dancing round over it, before he lifted it again; the water ran of the blade, but left it glittering. Rapunzel flinched when Gothel forced her arm forward and rolled up the sleeve of her coat and shirt so that her lower arm was left bare, she trembled, but she wasn't sure if it was form the cold or the adrenaline that started to pump in her veins when her mind swapped over to fight of flight, even if she couldn't do any of it. Eret took a careful hold of her wrist; he didn't look her in the eyes, even if she wished he had. He lifted the sword and placed it against her arm.

"Sorry..." she heard him mumbled out before he jerked the sword down and away. White burning pain flared up where the sword had cut up a long wound. She forced her teeth together to stifle the cry of pain, but a muffled sound still left her. She stared at the wound as the blood started to sell up, she cast Eret a worried look, and he now looked her in the eyes, she saw regret, but also that everything was going to be alright, she wanted to ask how he knew that, but she had lost her power to speak. The blood ran down her arm, and into the chalices, all of them. It was then Rapunzel noticed that... the blood didn't coagulate, it just kept pouring! She took of her coat halfway in haste, hissing when the fabric dragged over the wound, before he pressed the arm against the wound the best she could, shivering in the cold, Gothel had let go of her, when she didn't remember but now the woman laughed clapping her hands together.

"Ha, this is perfect; my beauty will see no end."

"Beauty?" Rapunzel said glaring t Gothel. "I see no beauty in you, only greed and envy." Rapunzel had paled, and in some way her blond hair was slowly turning brown in trails from her scalp. The arm of her coat was already drenched in blood, she trembled there she stood, before she sank down to her knees, but the light in her eyes were still bright and she glared at Gothel who gave away a growl, glaring back.

"Well~ you won't be around to see." She said and sneered.

The Bewilderbeast stopped at the edge of the ice.  
Hiccup cast a look up the island, and saw Rapunzel being lead into the cave. Then everyone gasped when the Nightmare Dragon was turned to a big ice sculpture with wood frozen in it.

"Wot..?" Merida gasped staring wide eyed at the ship.

Hiccup frowned and gave away a silent growl when he saw Pitch walk away out across the white landscape of ice and snow, followed by Jack.

"Nicholas, Eugene, Tadashi, go after Rapunzel. Merida, Aster, Tip, Hiro, I want you to see if you can find any survivors on the Nightmare Dragon."

"EH! Are ye out of yer mind?" Merida cried out "I'm not putting ma foot on that ship!" Hiccup gave her a look

"Then stay on the ship." He said.

"And let ya have all the fun, no thanks." she said and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What are you going to do?" Hiro asked looking at Hiccup.

"I'm gonna go after Pitch."

"Alone!?" Hiccup nodded, Toothless gave away an unhappy growl at that, showing clearly that he wanted to go with the captain.

"No bud, I have to go alone, you go with Nicholas and get Rapunzel back." Toothless gave away an unhappy grunt as he walked over towards Nicholas, sending a glare Hiccup's way. Hiccup chuckled at that. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

They started to move, Nicholas leading the way towards the cave, while Aster and Merida, followed by Tip and Hiro began to search the remains of the Nightmare Dragon. Hiccup began to walk towards Pitch, with determination in his steps.

Merida climbed along the ice and snow; she stopped at a piece of the deck.

"Ay! Anyone alive?!" she called out. She heard a muffled sound. She strained her ears in the wind, and snow, and began to search; soon she found the one making the noise... and she burst out laughing. Aster, Hiro and Tip came to her.

"What are ya laughing at?" Aster asked frowning at her. Merida chortled and pointed forward. Aster and the kids followed her direction. Hiro gaped, and Tip snorted. Aster's eyes opened wide in surprise.

"D-d-don't j-j-just s-s-st-tand t-t-there!" Dagur shouted at them there he lied on his side in the big ice shard. "D-do something!" Dagur whined as his teeth clattered hard and he nearly bit his tongue every time he spoke.

"Ay mate, ya seem to be in a pinch." Aster said and scratched his head. Dagur gave away a groan.

"What do we do?" Hiro asked. "He's bad."

"Maybe so, but even so I don't think he will do much." Tip said. "He's too cold for that."

"Then let's let him loose." Merida said and walked over to the frozen teen. She took out her knife and began to chip the ice, soon it shattered and Dagur's shoulder got free.

In the end, when the ice was gone, Dagur sank down to the ground like a shivering leaf, muttering his hate for snow and ice under his breath.

"Now what?" Tip asked. "Are we just gonna leave him here?"

"Nah... Let Hiccup decide what to do with 'im." Aster said and grabbed a hold of Eret's collar and dragged him to his feet.

Hiccup walked across the snow, Pitch was further up ahead. Hiccup then took a deep breath.

"PITCH!" he shouted, and the hypnotist stopped walking, the snow and wind blew around them.

Eret put the tear into one of the chalices and filled them to the brim with water; he knew which one was which when he picked them up. He walked over to Drago and gave him one of them.

"Here the one that Stretches life." He said, Drago took it, Eret then walked over towards Gothel as Drago emptied the chalice. "The one that retrieves life..." Rapunzel blinked, why had Eret lied, She lifted her head slowly so tired and cold, it hurts was this how it felt like to die? She forgot about Eret's lie when she saw how Gothel smirked at her and drank it all at once. Eret then walked over to Rapunzel and sank down on his knees in front of her. "Drink." He said she felt the cold chalice against her lips, but she frowned and moved her head away. Eret placed a hand on her shoulder. " _Drink._ " He said and looked her in the eyes. "It will be fine..." he whispered only loud enough for her to hear. "Drink." He said again, and moved the chalice to her lips, she drank. And after the second or was it the third gulp she suddenly felt her powers returning, the pain died out, and a strange itching feeling spread where the wound had been. She blinked and frowned in confusion. Eret said something more, but she wasn't sure what, but she was sure about that he lied. When the chalice was empty Eret took it away and put it on the floor. Rapunzel gave him a confused look, and he winked at her giving her a smile, before he got to his feet.

"NO!" Gothel suddenly shrieked, and Rapunzel looked up to see how the woman had suddenly gotten years older. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" she shrieked and stormed towards them. Rapunzel gave away a pained cry when she grabbed the hair closes to her scalp. Rapunzel took a hold of Gothel's now very thin wrist with the hand on her wounded arm, the coat falling to her lap, revealing that the wound was nowhere to be seen. Rapunzel grimaced and reached for the knife she always had on her, and cut the hair of between Gothel's hand and her head, before she scrambled to her feet, backing away from them. Gothel shrieked and threw the hair to the floor as her own hair turned white, her skin whiting as well. She grabbed Eret. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" She shouted at him, an iron grip of the collar of his shirt. She growled, but then gave away a choked sound, her grip lost, and Eret took this to move away, he took a careful hold of Rapunzel's elbow and began to lead her away towards the entrance, only... where was it?

Gothel looked down at her chest, where a sword pieced her, she then looked back to see Drago look at her, with unimpressed eyes.

"You... back stabbing bastard." Gothel said her voice going hoarse.

"You think I didn't know?" he asked. "You and Pitch working together, I never trusted any of you." He said and pulled back his sword, and Gothel collapsed to the ground. "I am going to kill him when this is over, but first." as she hit it the ground Gothel was no more, her body turned to dust and blew away in a gust of wind form the entrance of the cave Drago turned around and walked in the direction Eret and Rapunzel had taken. "I have a slave and doctor to take care of."


	34. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

Eret walked fast leading Rapunzel in front of him, her coat flapping behind her almost falling off.

"What did you do?" she asked looking up at him.

"Changed the chalices, I gave Gothel the one that took life and you the one that restored life." He looked down at her. "I told you in the letter that I was going to do my best to help." indeed he had, Rapunzel smiled before she cast a look backwards. A loud growl then suddenly caught her ears, and her head snapped forward to find Alpha stand in the passage fur bristling and mane blowing in the wind, he growled before he roared at them. Eret backed away slowly. "So that's where he left you." Eret grumbled eyeing the mountain lion. Rapunzel took of her coat completely, shivering in the cold, she held it in both hands; blood covered one of the arms.

"Can this help?" she asked, not looking away from the mountain lion, who roared at them growling and snarling, teeth visible. Eret cast a look at the coat,

"Maybe..." Eret said and took it from Rapunzel, before he have it a shake, Alphas head shot to it, and his already small pupils grew smaller, he growled. "It seems to work." He said and cast her a fast look. "When he leaves the passage, run out."

"What about you?"

"I'll follow." He said and smiled at her; Rapunzel nodded and made herself ready to run to get past the mountain lion. Eret looked back to Alpha and gave away a shout and wafted the coat. Alpha growled loudly in return and hit at the coat with his paw, moving forward. "Come on you overgrown fleabag, come and get it!" Eret said and made another jerk with the coat. Alpha growled angry and swatted at the coat again, this time hitting it and creating three big tears in the material, Eret stared at it, before he cast a look towards Rapunzel; she was looking at the coat with a pout. Alpha then roared, and Eret flinched when the coat was hit out of his hands when the mountain lion charged at him. Eret gave away a yelp and stumbled out of the way. "RUN!" he shouted and they ran out the passage, Alpha chasing after them growling loudly.

Rapunzel stumbled in the deep snow when the wind grabbed a hold of her and she hugged around herself in the cold, her short hair blew in all directions. Eret was a half step behind her. Alpha then jumped. Eret gave away a cry when the mountain lions claws dug into him, before he was showed down in the snow, Rapunzel screamed, wishing for her frying pan.

"Alpha." A voice suddenly said just before the Lion was to deliver the killing blow, the lion stopped and turned its head around to look at its human. Rapunzel took a step backwards. Drago gave the lion a glare and it gave away a low growl but stepped of Eret, who lied in the snow grimacing in pain. Drago looked at the lion that looked at him before it walked away in the snow down towards where Pitch was. Drago walked over towards Eret before he grabbed his collar and forced him up from the ground. Eret gave away a surprised yelp that turned to a choked sound when Drago grabbed a hold of his throat. "Any more stunts you plan to pull?" Drago asked in a dark voice as Eret held at his wrist and arm.

"Let go of him!" Rapunzel shouted, taking up the sword Eret had dropped and attacked, the sword hit the metal of the prosthetic and bounced right back, the sound echoed around them, Rapunzel stumbled and gave away a pained cry when Drago's metal hand grabbed around her, how did he manage to move it? She wondered. Eret looked at her in shock whilst Drago frowned at her unimpressed.

"Seems like I will have to take care of you two myself." He grunted glaring at Eret who had trouble staying conscious, from the lack of oxygen, Rapunzel tried to get free from the metal hand, it was COLD covered in rime and it made her skin freeze stuck.  
Some clearing their throats made Drago look up to find Nicholas, Eugene and Tadashi standing in front of him, Nicholas had his arms crossed over his chest, Tadashi had a dagger in his hand, while Eugene had his sword drawn. Toothless stood next to Nicholas, growling ferocious at the captain of the Nightmare Dragon.

"Rapunzel are you alright?" Eugene asked, she nodded and gave him a smile, before he cast a look towards Eret, and her smile faltered. Nicholas noticed and looked at Drago with a glare.

"Release the kids." Nicholas said in a serious and strong voice.

"I saw you freeze." Drago growled at him.

"A little ice won't kill me." Nicholas said. "Now release the kids." Drago looked like he thought about it, before he threw Rapunzel towards them, she gave away a yelp of pain when the metal tore free from her skin, she grabbed her upper arm with her hand, stumbling on her feet, Eugene caught her keeping her from falling, he looked at her in concern. Nicholas looked at her and she looked up at him and smiled the best she could with her cold face, he then looked back to Drago. "Both of them." He said and unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Drago. The man blinked at him before he let go of Eret, who collapsed to the ground couching and gasping hoarsely for air, moving one hand to his throat. Rapunzel walked over to him helping him to his feet. Toothless suddenly lifted his head and looked towards Where Pitch and Hiccup met, he saw Alpha move towards them, but also that Jack had the staff raised. He growled, before he looked up at Nicholas giving away a whine. The man looked down at him. "Go." The man said and smiled, Toothless didn't need to be told twice before he dashed away in the direction of the others. "Eugene, Tadashi, get the kids back to the ship."

"Nicholas?" Rapunzel asked, Nicholas looked back at her and smiled.

"I will be fine." She gave him a nod, and they turned around and began to move back towards the Bewilderbeast.

Drago looked at him.

"You really believe you will win this?"

"I won't let you harm my children anymore." Nicholas said and unsheathed his other sword and held them in his hands "Or are you afraid you'll lose?" Nicholas asked and smirked; Drago glared at him in response and unsheathed his sword.  
The blades clashed together. Sparks shot out when the blades hit.

Rapunzel looked back towards Nicholas, before she looked back to Eret, who was massaging his throat where big bruises already had started to bloom.

They got on board the ship, and walked down inside the galley, there they found Merida, Aster and Tip and Hiro gathered with a Dagur buried under blankets and pelts with a cup of hot tea in his trembling hands.

"Dagur?" Eret asked in a hoarse voice "What happened to you?"

"T-that bastard sent the ice on me." Dagur said; he wasn't stammering so hard anymore, but his teeth still clattered and he shivered. Dagur then looked at Rapunzel with a frown. "Why is the doctor still alive?" he looked over to Eret. "I turn my back to you one moment and you go and change sides? I'm disappointed Eret!" Dagur shouted. Eret glowered at him.

"Watch it. Or I'll throw you overboard." Eret spat Dagur frowned.

"You can't do that-"

"Don't try me." Eret said and pointed at him, but he winched when he moved his arm. Rapunzel was at his side right away.

"We need to look at the wound that mountain lion gave you..." she said.

"I'm fine."

"What is it with the slaves from the Nightmare Dragon and not wanting **help**!?" she shouted, grabbing Eret's ear and dragged him away towards the Doctor's office. "Accept help when you need it!" she shouted out at no one. Tadashi laughed and Eugene looked after her, Aster looked at him before he jabbed him playfully in the ribs with his elbow.

"Quite a feisty one ye've fallen for, mate." Eugene turned to look at him blinking before he gave away a sly smile.

"Ow! Let go!" Eret said when they got up from the galley. Rapunzel let go of his ear, but grabbed the collar of his shirt instead and continued to drag him towards the Doctor's office.

"You're hurt, and if those wounds the lion gave you aren't treated there is a rick they will get infected, you saved my life." She stopped outside the door and opened it. "Let me repay you by doing this, please." She looked at him with pleading eyes. He stared at her before he looked away, she didn't miss the blush that spread over his face.

"Fine." He all but spat out, she chuckled and opened the door.  
Rapunzel led him inside and closed the door behind her to keep the freezing air out, she then walked over to a lantern and lighted it, and the room was filled with a warm light. Rapunzel began to dig in one of the chests in the room and found what she looked for; she put some patches and a bottle of alcohol on the table, along with clean straps of fabric. Eret eyed her, not sure what he was going to do. Rapunzel then turned to him. "I... never asked for your name." He said suddenly realizing that he didn't know the woman's name. She looked up at him and smiled.

"I'm Rapunzel." She said and gave him a curious look. "Even thought I think I told it to you before..." she tilted her head, before she shrugged. "Now, take of your shirt so I can have a look at the wounds." Eret sighed before he lurched out of the shirt. Rapunzel saw scars, newer and older covering his back, but she didn't have time to wonder about them, she had a pair of still bleeding wounds to take care of. Eret hissed in pain and went stiff when she started to dab alcohol over the wounds to kill the bacteria. "Sorry..." she said as she cleaned the wound and put a patch over it, she did the same with the other wounds as well. "There done." She said and went to throw the straps of fabric she had used; that now wasn't so clean anymore, in the cleaning basket. Eret were about to take on the shirt again but Rapunzel stopped him, "Here." She held out a red washed out shirt towards him. "It's Nicholas... it might be a bit too big, but it is the closest to your size, wear it till I've patched up the tears in the shirt, okay." He blinked at her, and took the shirt.

"You sure Nicholas won't mind?" Rapunzel just swatted his comment away and grinned.

"I believe he's glad it gets to use..." she moved closer as if she was afraid someone was going to hear her. "He's gotten a bit _bigger_ , it's too tight." She grinned and took up the shirt. "I seem to have to clean it as well..." she laughed, and threw it in the basket as well. She looked down at it, hand on her hips. "It looks like I will have to do some washing, but not until I can dip my hand in water without having it freezing." She chuckled again.

"Thank you." Eret said, she turned around and gave him a confused look.

"For what?"

"Everything... I can see why Jack liked this crew so much." Eret sighed and a genuine smile fell onto his lips. "You are all so... happy."

"That is because this crew and this ship; are my home and family."

They returned to the galley, but both Eret and Rapunzel looked towards the direction they knew Jack was in.


	35. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

The snow and wind roared around them. Hiccup glared at Pitch, who stood with his hands behind his back with a devious grin on his lips. Hiccup looked at Jack, and felt as if someone had punched him in the gut at the sight of the teen he loved. Jack's skin was paler than normal and had a greyish tone, his eyes were half lidded and strained, but the yellow glowed bright. His white hair blew in the wind, and his entire body was thin, Jack stood looking at him with empty eyes, leaning heavily on the staff.

"You really are hard to get rid of; you're testing my patience, my _dear_ captain." Pitch said in an annoyed voice, glaring at him.

"Jack..." Hiccup said slowly as if he was talking to a spooked animal, only looking at him ignoring Pitch completely. "Hey, it's me Jack, it's me... I'm right here, Jack..." He took some steps closer towards the teen. "Come back to me..." he said almost pleading. Pitch laughed.

"He's not your anymore, he never was, he belongs to me." Pitch said still laughing; he gave Hiccup a daring look. "Oh, but please, my _dear_ captain, **try** , to take him." Jack raised his staff, it swayed in his hold; Jack moved his feet to get his balance better. "He will not miss a second time." Hiccup still didn't look at Pitch, only at Jack.

"It wasn't your fault Jack." He said slowly. "They... made you do it." He noticed how the yellow flickered in Jack's eyes, and hope sparked in his chest. Jack gave away a sound that Hiccup wasn't sure what it meant, and he shook his head slightly, his eyelids fluttering over his eyes. Hiccup took a deep breath before he continued talking. "You'd never hurt **him**... you'd never hurt _me_..." the yellow flickered again, stronger this time.

" _How_ are you doing that..?" Pitch asked with something in his voice Hiccup didn't recognize.  
Jack opened his mouth and a wheezing whine left him, and he stumbled there he stood. The staff lowering and he forced his eyes shut, grimacing, before he blinked his eyes open, the yellow nowhere to be seen. Hiccup felt hope grow. Jack gave away a sound that sounded almost like the beginning of Hiccup's name.

"I won't leave you." Hiccup said before the yellow returned in full force the staff shooting up to point at him again "I won't let you go!" Hiccup called. Jack's brows were furrowed in a pained way, and Hiccup saw the sweat on the teen's brow. " _Please you_..." Hiccup pleaded tears working its way into his eyes. "You're my best friend, Jack..." Hiccup said; the yellow started to flicker again. "My best friend... I love _you_..." Jack gave away a whine forcing his eyes shut, grimacing in pain, as he lowered the staff till it touched the ground, then blinked his eyes open; the yellow vanished and seemed to fall like glitter from his eyes. "Atta boy that's it! I'm here!" Hiccup cheered.

"NO!" Pitch roared. "You belong to me!" Pitch shouted, and raised his hand. Jack gave away a pained cry, and grabbed harder around the staff it glowed stronger.

"Get... out... of... my HEAD!" Jack shouted, spinning around and sent a blast of ice and snow towards Pitch. The Hypnotist gave away a yelp and dodged the blast, but the medallion was less lucky, it was sent flying into the air. Jack panted for air; there he stood feet far apart and the staff in hand, it slipped from his grip and clattered against the ground, Jack's eyes rolled back before he collapsed to the ground.

"Jack!" Hiccup cried out, and began to run towards the teen, but a bright flash made him stop, and he blinked looking up when he heard Pitch give away a frightened cry.

The medallion had hit the ice, and opened from the hit, the wind began to swirl around the medallion, dragging up loose snowflakes form the ground, before shadows appeared in the vortex that the medallion conjured. It grew darker until it was a spinning mix of grey and black. Two hands made from the same material, appeared and one began to reach towards Pitch. The hypnotist scrambled to his feet and began to run, but a hard tug made him fall flat on his face in the snow and ice, the hand had grabbed a hold of his shadow's ankle. The hands started to pull.

"No! No nononononono!" Pitch cried out clawing at the ice and snow for something to hold onto, but he was dragged closer to the vortex with each breath. Pitch was crying from fear, and then the other hand grabbed him, and the shadows swallowed him whole, the vortex disappeared into the medallion again that snapped shut. The strong wind that once had blow around them nowhere to be found, the snow had stopped too. A loud noise was then heard, and Hiccup saw how a crack appeared in the ice under the medallion, he also heard how it hit water.

" _You belong to me now_ ~" a voice echoed around him, before the ice slammed together, the crack nowhere to be seen. Hiccup breathed out a shaky breath he didn't realise he was holding. The only thing that showed Pitch had been there were apart from his foot prints, the scratches on the snow, where his fingers had desperately tried to get a hold of something. Hiccup blinked, and turned his head.

"Jack!" he gasped out running up to the teen, Jack was lying lifeless on the ground. Hiccup gathered him in his arms, stroking some of the white hair away from his face. "Jack..?" Hiccup breathed out patting him on the cheek, trying to get any kind of reaction from the teen, but noting. He remembered Rapunzel's words about the third type of hypnosis...if it was going on for too long the one being controlled-  
Hiccup's eyes opened white and he moved Jack so that he could place his ear against his chest. "Please no..." he pleaded, but noting. Not even the sound of breathing. "No... Jack." He hugged around the teen.  
The cold didn't really bother him, he held Jack close.  
Tears falling down his cheeks.

The darkness was thick, and he still couldn't move.  
Just why couldn't he move?!  
He blinked his eyes open still just as dark as it had been with his eyes closed.  
The echo suddenly called out again, wait... no... This was someone else calling... he strained his ears just to hear, please let him hear who it was tat talked! If it even was talking...  
HE wanted to know!  
 _Jack_.  
He blinked that sounded familiar. Why did that voice sound so familiar, and why did it calm him? Gosh he didn't understand! More words were spoke and each of them clearer to him than the other. He tried to move, it hurt! But he needed to move! He knew deep inside that he needed to move! He gave away a roar as he forced his limbs to do as he wanted.  
The voice kept talking.  
Giving him more strength.  
Move! Come on! MOVE! He thought or did he shout it? He wasn't sure, he didn't really care either. He moved. He could feel himself move and he began to do some strange mix between crawling and swimming, up. UP! He broke the surface even if it was just as dark as the water or whatever it was below he gasped for air, why did it suddenly become so easy to breathe? The voice was stronger now, and he knew it, he was sure he knew it.  
Oh yes... he knew it so well!  
He cried out a name, he wasn't sure which, but then the water washed over him again and he began to struggle. The darkness shouted at him. Yellow eyes glaring at him, but he didn't care, he fought against the water and darkness and broke the surface again. The darkness suddenly grew brighter, and he started to see, a brownish blur, but he saw a figure stand in front of him.  
Hands held visible and only looking at him.  
The voice still talked.  
The blur grew clearer and he saw the eyes, green.  
A lovely forest green...  
And tears? Why did the person cry?  
He began to move again, even if it hurt, feeling like he was on fire.  
He crawled up onto the surface of the dark black waters.  
When did he be able to walk on water?  
He called out the name again. The voice growing stronger as the vision grew clearer.  
Then everything was clear and he heard the wind roar, the cold hit him like a wall, and so did the pain and hunger, the lack of sleep made his vision skim.  
Then the darkness shouted at him, trying to grab him again. Not this time!  
He spun around and shot away a blast of power towards the darkness.  
The exhaustion washed over him and everything went still...

Hiccup cried so hard that he didn't hear the growling behind him, nor the snow crunching under four paws.

Alpha walked towards his prey. Since the tall one he had planned for was gone there was only two left to satisfy his hunger. He growled and lowered his head stalking closer, and then he dashed; claws out teeth bare and pupils flashing big to catch everything he needed in his vision before they turned small again.

Hiccup turned his head slowly, eyes wide, seeing the mountain lion dash towards him, snow flying behind him.

"Oh no!" he cried out. A dark shadow suddenly fell over him then and Hiccup gasped when he saw a black mass of fur he recognized crashed into the mountain lions front showing the lion back.

Toothless roared angrily and got between Hiccup and the mountain lion, his black fur bristling and his ears flat against his head. He roared again before he looked back to Hiccup giving away a worried sound. Hiccup smiled and gave him a reassuring nod in reply. Toothless nodded and looked back to Alpha, growling again.

" _Don't you dare touch my humans!_ " Toothless growled glaring at the lion.

" _Your humans?_ " he lion growled back " _They are food! Get out of my way you foul creature or I will eat you too._ "

" _If you want to get to my humans, you gonna have to go thru me._ " Toothless growled back. Alpha glared at him, the two big cats circled each other, and whenever Alpha tried to get to Hiccup, Toothless blocked his way with a fierce growl and a swat with his paw. " _I'm your opponent!_ " Toothless growled.

" _Fine. I will eat you first!_ " Alpha growled and the two big cats clashed. Tuffs of fur and blood slowly covered the battlefield. Toothless snarled and Alpha roared. Toothless yowled when Alpha bit his front leg, and he scratched the mountain lion hard over the face with his hind leg, making Alpha let go with a yap. Toothless limped away a bit but he growled loudly. Blood dripped form the scratches on Alphas face the mountain lion was not amused, his tail moving some left to right and his hears were barely visible in the mane.  
The big cat's stood in front of each other. Toothless growled his entire body vibrating.  
Alpha had his head held high and roared, but Toothless didn't yield. They dashed at each other again, jumping and crashing into each other in the air, biting and scratching. Alpha landed under Toothless who had a strong bite of Alphas neck.

" _Give in!_ " Toothless growled out, pinning the big mountain lion to the ground. Alpha growled, but stopped fighting back, Toothless bite a bit harder, before he let go and limped towards Hiccup. Alpha rose up from the ground, snow falling from his chest.

" _You fool._ " Alpha growled out and attacked. Toothless gave away a yelp when Alpha bite the prosthetic, Toothless growled turning around the best he could, before he jerked the prosthetic towards him, Alpha's teeth scraped big rifts in the wood, Toothless growled loudly.

" _Stay down!_ " he kicked out with the prosthetic, a loud crack was heard and Alpha yowled out in pain backing away, one of his canines fell to the snow. Toothless turned to him head held high, he growled loudly, Alpha backed away, casting his eyes away and lowered his head. Toothless roared loudly before he snorted eyes blazing. Alpha gave him a look, before he gave in and left. Toothless was still growling, but stopped when he knew Alpha wasn't going to try anything else. But the mountain lion walked away limping and bleeding. Toothless snorted again before his pupils widened and he turned around to limp towards Hiccup who still was sitting in the snow holding Jack close. Toothless gave away a worried sound when he saw Jack. He limped over sniffing at the teen, before he looked up at Hiccup.

"I was too late, but... we were too late." Toothless gave away a whine and almost collapsed to the ground, too tired to stand. He sniffed at Jack's hand before he tried to get his head under the teen's hand. He gave away a whine looking at Jack with big sad eyes.


	36. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

Nicholas blocked Drago's attack; the sound of metal hitting metal rang around them as the swords clashed together in a speed that only the best could keep. Nicholas's blue eyes observed and analysed what Drago was going to do next. Drago attacked again, and Nicholas used this to answer Drago's attack with an attack of his own. Drago gave away a grunt when his metal prosthetic was torn from him by a hit from Nicholas sword. It gave away a clank when it hit the ground. Drago growled and were just about to attack when Nicholas sword jabbed him in the chest, not enough to kill, but enough to hurt. Drago stopped dead in his tracks.

"Give in, captain. You not win fight, it's over." Nicholas said in a serious voice. Drago glared at him, before he saw Alpha, the mountain Lion walked slowly across the snow, towards them.

"Or is it?" Drago asked as a grin spread on his face. Nicholas cast a look back to see the animal. The animal cast him a look before it snorted and glared at Drago.

"Yes it is." Nicholas said and took some steps away; giving the mountain lion a free passage "Lion's are hard to control." Nicholas said looking at Drago, Alpha wasn't going to attack him, he knew the wound Toothless could make and he still had the panthers sent; hard to live on that ship without having it. "Give them food they listen... but not giving food, they bite the hand that feeds them." Nicholas turned around and began to walk towards the Bewilderbeast, as he heard Alpha roar, and saw how the lion dashed, despite its wounds it moved like nothing had happened, Alpha was driven by hunger and anger.

The Bewilderbeast seemed to hum when Nicholas got on board, and he moved to the galley as he sheathed his swords. He opened the door and walked inside, finding the crew without its captain, but with two new people.

"Nicholas!" Rapunzel said and ran up to him. "You okay? What about Drago?" Nicholas smiled at her.

"I'm fine, lass." He said "But I don't think Drago will be a problem anymore."

"An' why's that?" Aster asked there he stood leaning against a barrel with potatoes.

"He is in a quarrel with an angry lion at the moment." Nicholas ruffled Rapunzel hair. "Haircut?" he gestured to her now short hair Rapunzel let out an embarrassed chuckle as she stroked some of the strains away behind her ear.

"Not the best one." she smiled at him

"It suits you." He looked up and took in the galley. Merida sat at the table with Tip and Hiro next to her, the trio was glaring t a brown-haired man who was covered in blankets, Aster stood leaning on a barrel with potatoes eyeing a dark brown nearly black haired man who stood in one of Nicholas old shirts, and Tadashi stood next to the man. "So? What are the kid's names?" he asked looking at both of them. The one under the blanket snorted at him and looked away with a grunt.

"I'm Eret, and that's Dagur." The man next to Tadashi said and gave Nickolas a weak smile.

"Why is he under blankets?" Nicholas asked Merida who looked away from Dagur to look at him.

"He was stuck in a big block of ice when we found him. He's getting his body temperature back to normal. Then Hiccup will decide what to do with him, both of them." She cast Eret a look before she looked back at Nicholas. He nodded.

"Any news?" they shook their heads Nicholas sighed "Toothless is with them, they will be fine."

A cold wind blew around them, playing around with Jack's white hair.  
Hiccup was still crying, silently tears rolling down his cheeks; Toothless lied at his side, his head under Jack's limp, pale and thin hand, breathing in and out of his nose; the wounds Alpha had given him, made the snow that landed on him and was under him turn pink.

 _Ba bump_

Hiccup sniffled moving a bit, a shiver wracking thru his body, but Toothless had heard it; the panther looked up towards Jack, frowning slightly.

 _Ba bump_

There it was again, Toothless rose on his front legs, his wounded leg barely keeping him standing, he squinted down at Jack, his ears pointing towards the teen.  
Jack's mouth was slightly a gape and Toothless heard a faint wheezing breath leave and enter. Toothless gave away a barking mew, getting Hiccup's attention.

"What is it bud?" Hiccup asked stroking some tears away from his eyes. Toothless nodded towards Jack giving the teen a bug with the nose. Hiccup gave Toothless a confused look, Toothless looked at Hiccup before he placed his head on Jack's chest snorting at Hiccup. "You want me to listen for his heart again?" Toothless nodded. "It's not like it can get any worse..." Hiccup mumbled and placed his ear against Jack's chest.

 _Ba bump_

Hiccup blinked and his head shot up, he stared down at Jack, before a big glee grew on his lips.

"Oh gods..." He gasped. "Oh thank the gods! You're alive!" Hiccup hugged him close kissing him on the forehead. Toothless gave away a happy noise. Hiccup began to move his body stiff from the cold, he held Jack close as he got to his feet, Toothless bite around the staff holding it in his mouth. "Can you walk, bud?" he asked, Toothless nodded and got to his feet, limping a bit, but he could walk. "Good." They began to move back towards the Bewilderbeast, Jack's head lolled from left to right, his body heavy, like a sleeping child, expect that it was colder. Hiccup grunted and moved Jack a bit and secured his head under his jaw. The grey ship grew bigger in front of them and Hiccup frowned, how was he, and Toothless supposed to get on board..?

"Nicholas! Rapunzel!" he shouted out, it didn't take long before their heads looked down from the ship. Another man Hiccup didn't recognize was there as well.

"Hiccup?" Rapunzel asked then she saw Jack. "Oh-" she moved a hand to her mouth "Is he..?" Hiccup knew what she meant, he shook his head.

"He's still alive." He could see the relief wash over the three of them. "Toothless on the other hand needs to be treated, the mountain lion put up quite a fight. We need some help up, Toothless can't climb and... My arms are full." Nicholas held up one finger at him before he left. Toothless tilted his head in confusion, Nicholas returned then with a big piece of fabric, he climbed down the rope ladder and looked to Toothless, he took the staff from the Panthers mouth and held it up, Rapunzel took it and gave it in turn to Eret.

"Okay Toothless, you go first." The man said the panther tiled his head the other way giving away a confused sound. Nicholas smiled "hug me from behind." Toothless moved before he got up of his hind legs and placed his front legs on Nicholas shoulders. Nicholas took the fabric and bound Toothless to himself, in a secure way. "Hold tight." Then he started to climb Toothless blinked before he understood what happened, the fabric held him to Nicholas back and gave the man free hands to climb. Toothless stayed still until Nicholas undid the fabric. Rapunzel took care of things from there, Tip and Eugene had gotten up from the galley to see what was going on.

"You tow help me take care of Toothless." They nodded and followed her inside the doctor's office, before she closed the door. "Nicholas, Eret, bring Jack in here as well!" she got a nod from both of them.

Hiccup looked to the man.

"So you're Eret?" the man looked down at him and nodded "Glad to see you're alright."  
Nicholas climbed down again and walked over to him with the fabric, now a bit bloodied from Toothless wounds, and making Hiccup miss how Eret was taken aback at his statement.

They got Jack on board in a similar way as Toothless, before they moved towards the Doctor's office. Rapunzel looked up when they came in.

"Good. Put him on the bed." Hiccup nodded and placed Jack onto the bed in the room. Rapunzel told Tip and Eugene what to do before he moved over to them and began to do a check up on Jack. She was silent for a while before he sighed in relief. "He's still alive, but barely, Nicholas, go make something light, soup with just taste, we need to get him something to eat and drink, or **we will** lose him." Nicholas nodded before he left.

"Anything I can do?" Eret asked Rapunzel looked up at him and frowned as she thought.

"Go and retrieve some blankets from Dagur, I believe he's thawed by now." Eret nodded and left as well.

Toothless gave away a pained whine when Tip began to dab a piece of cloth with alcohol over the wounds on his front leg.

"You okay, bud?" Hiccup asked and sat down at the side, to stay out of the way as the doctor's pupil worked, ordering Eugene to do something. Toothless gave him a betrayed glare and growled. "Ah Toothless, you pouting big baby boo." Hiccup said and pouted at him with a glint in his eyes. Toothless gave away sounds that sounded as if he tried to parrot Hiccup's words, but he glared the other way.

The door opened and Eret returned with blankets in his arms. He closed the door with his foot and walked over to Rapunzel avoiding to step on Toothless tail.

"Thank you Eret." Rapunzel said and took some of the blankets and placed over the one blanket she already had placed to cover Jack's body. "You can put the rest on the floor at the foot of the bed." she said when she noticed Eret still held the other blankets. He put them down as Nicholas came in thru the door with a small bowl in his hand. He closed the door, and walked over to Rapunzel.

"It's not hot; don't want the child to get hurt on to hot soup." Rapunzel took the bowl and looked own, it was broth. She dipped the tip of her finger into it, not feeling anything, body temperature. She smiled up at him.

"Thank you Nicholas." She sat down at the bed moving her hand in under Jack's head; she placed the bowl against his lips and began to slowly tip it. She waited for a moment, before she noticed that Jack's body seemed to be awake enough to realize that it was nutrition and he began to drink, slowly, so very slowly Rapunzel tipped the bowl to make sure Jack got every drop, when it run out she put the bowl down to the floor placing Jack's head back to the pillow. He wasn't as pale as before, but the dark circles under his eyes stood out against his pale skin. She stroked some of his white locks away from his face before she felt someone buff her at her arm, she looked won to see Toothless stand there, he had bandages over his body and his leg was completely white. The panther gave her a worried look, his green eyes big and worried; she smiled at him scratching him behind the ear. "Don't worry Toothless; he's going to be fine. He just needs a lot of rest."

The door opened and Aster stood there looking at Hiccup.

"We got a problem..."

"The ship is frozen stuck in the ice, great, this is just great." Hiccup said gesturing to the ice with both hands, sarcasm overflowing his voice.

"How much do we have in the pantry?" Eugene asked.

"Is enough for week... two if cut down dinners." Nicholas answered after a while.

They were all gathered on deck. Toothless keeping Dagur under a watchful eye, if the teen tried anything, Toothless was going to put him back in place.

"So... what do we do?" Merida asked looking at Hiccup. The captain had a hand over his face grumbling under his breath.

"I saw moss in the cave." Rapunzel suddenly chipped; everyone turned to her Hiccup gave her a deadpan look.

"In what way does moss in a cave help our situation?" he asked raising one eyebrow at her.

"Well, have you ever seen moos in a frozen place?" Hiccup shook his head. "Then there might be more, you've heard the tales of Neverland right, I don't think this frozen shell is it, if moss grows in the cave... then maybe the cave is an entrance."

"To Neverland?" she nodded. "Not like we can lose anything by investigating..." he sighed and looked towards the cave. "Anyone up for searching, the cave?" he asked before he turned around. Tip looked at Rapunzel before she and Hiro held up their hands. "Anyone who wants to keep an eye on the kids? no one? I can't have them go of alone." Merida sighed and held up her hand. "Anyone else?" Toothless gave away a sound.

"Oh no, don't you even think about it Toothless, you are staying here and resting." Rapunzel said, the panther whined at her looking at Hiccup with pleading eyes.

"Sorry bud, you heard the doctor." Hiccup said. Toothless snorted at him and glared away.

"I can go." Hiccup turned his head to Eret. "But if you rather keep me here, I can stay behind-"

"Are you for real!?" Eret stopped talking to glare at Dagur. "Why would you, help them?!" Dagur shouted still having a plaid over his shoulders hogging it close. "They are our enemies!"

"Do you never shut up..?" Eret sighed.

"It's settled then." Hiccup said "Merida, Tip and Hiro, and Eret will search the cave."


	37. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

It had started snowing again, but the sun strained its light thru the thick clouds to give enough light to see. Merida took her quiver with normal arrows and fastened it to a belt around her hip, before she put her bow over her shoulder. Hiro walked around on deck trying to get the boots he had gotten from Rapunzel; they were dramatically too big for him, but with ropes binding them to his legs, made them not fall off with each step, so now he walked around getting sued to the feeling. Tip sat on the railing dangling her legs.

"I can't possibly take this." Eret said there he stood in front of Nicholas with one of the man's coats in his hands. "I've already taken your shirt..."

"Ach, child." Nicholas said and wafted with his big hand before he smiled and placed it on Eret's shoulder. Eret opened his mouth to argue, but Nicholas shut hip of before he even got the chance to start "You need it more than I at moment." Eret blinked, that was true… but he, they had done so much for him already; he didn't want to be a burden.

"Eret, hurry up! Let's go!" Tip called, he looked towards her to see that they already were ready to leave Merida stood with a hand on her hip with an bored expression on her face, Hiro was walking on the spot at the railing hands in his pockets both of the children seemed to be the ones most eager about getting allowed to go. Eret looked back to Nicholas who smiled at him.

"Keep an eye of them for me, will you?" Eret nodded before he took on the coat and walked over to Merida, Tip and Hiro.

"Took yer sweet time." Merida said but she smiled despite the monotony in her voice.

"Sorry…" Eret said, not sure how Merida or Tip and Hiro felt about having him coming with them.

They started to walk, following the track that had been done earlier, that now, was almost snowed in. Eret walked first, then Tip and Hiro and last Merida. Eret stopped at the entrance to the passage, looking to the left, further down the hill in that direction he saw the snow turn red, he looked away and turned around to see how close the others were, and first now notice they were quite far behind. He waited hugging Nicholas coat around him when a cold wind blew around him, and hit snow in his face.

"Man, you walk fast..." Hiro gasped when they got up to him. Tip stood with her hands on her knees gasping for air. Merida looked unfazed, but was breathing hard.

"Sorry..."

"Are we going in there..?" Tip asked pointing at the passage. Eret nodded.

"Let's go then." Merida said and walked inside the others followed.

"Woah!" Tip gasped when she saw the big cave.

"Is that the fountain?" Hiro asked pointing further inside the cave.

"Yeah…" Eret said walking closer to it, the chalices still stood there.

"What are ye gonna do?" Merida asked giving him a watchful eye.

"Make the legend and myth about the fountain stay that way." He stepped hard on one of the chalice a crack was heard as the pink ice shattered and the silver bended, the symbol in the bottom of the cup broke in two. Merida stared at him, Tip and Hiro on the other hand had started to explore. Eret crashed another chalice and kicked the third into the wall. "There." Eret clapped his hands together.

"Who could have done these?" Hiro asked as he stroked his fingers over one of the stone carvings.

"Those who lived here long ago maybe." Tip said from the other side of the cave. "Found the moss!" Tip called, Merida began to move towards her, Eret and Hiro followed. Tip pointed to the pillar.

"Rapunzel wasn't wrong." Merida said moving her hand over the moss. It was moisturized but not frozen. Hiro moved further inside and passed a piece of the caves wall, a blue light illuminating him

"Hey! Look." He called out. Tip walked up to him and gasped.

In front of them a big tunnel made from ice spread, the ice was clear but had a blue light and the light from above illuminated everything into a bluish hue.

"Wonder where it goes…" Tip said and walked closer to the ice. Hiro moved closer to the tunnel.

"Come on, let's see where this tunnel leaAAAAAGHHHH!" the ice shattered under him and is words turned to a scream when gravity did her job he fell and hit more ice that was tipping down and soon found himself sliding faster and faster in dark blue; round, up and down, left and forth, he soon lost grip of what was up and down completely.

"HIRO!" he heard Tip scream out, but it grew fainter the further away he got from them. Tip ran towards the hole in the ice.

"No!" Eret called out, as the ice under her feet shattered and she was swallowed by the ice as well will a surprised shriek. Merida had her eyes wide open and were about to run towards the big hole in the ice, but strong hands grabbed a hold of her arms, holding her back.

"Let go of me ya bloody bastard!" she shouted kicking and punching in an attempt to get free, she was sure some of her kicks and blows hit their mark.

"If the ice didn't hold for them, do you think it will hold for you!?" Eret said, not letting go. Merida growled still struggling before she exhaled harshly and stopped. He was right, Eret let go of her after a while, she shot him a death glare and he held up his hands in surrender. "I do apologize for restraining you, but it was all I could do to keep you from doing something _stupid_." She grunted at him and looked towards the ice

"Where do you think they will end up?" Merida asked slowly taking some cautious steps closer to the ice, looking down the hole in the ice floor.

"I don't know…" Eret said "But we might as well search for ano-" he went silent, Merida blinked turning her head around.

"Eret?" she asked, but went silent when she saw how sharp points of spears pointing towards them, held by people with big masks over their heads, covering their chests as well. Eret had his hands raised, casting a look back to Merida, she took some steps closer to them, to not risk falling down the ice, raising her hands to her head as she moved and stopped next to Eret. The people behind the mask spoke, but in a language that neither Eret nor Merida knew. "So… guess we found the inhabitants…" she hissed at him "what do we do now?" Eret studied the masked people.

"We'll see what they want, but we have to get Hiro and Tip back." He said slowly. One of the persons gave away an angry sound and shoved the spear, closer to Eret's face. He took a step back frowning. "If only I understood what they said…" another harsh sound and Merida took a step closer to Eret when the tip of one of the spears got to close for her liking, two of the mask clad people got behind them, and Merida and Eret were forced forward with a jab of the end of the spear between their shoulder blades. They were led away from the ice tunnel, but not towards the entrance of the cave, rather, towards another tunnel, that was made from stone, carved out by hand, it was pitch black inside it, which made it hard to see in it, but also to find it if you stood in the cave.

Rapunzel sighed there she sat at the table in the galley, sewing Eret's shirt together. Tadashi sat with a book in his lap, but he had once been reading it, now he sat and stared out the round window with a distant look, mind not in the room any longer. Aster sat with his arms crossed over his chest and eyes closed, laying on the sofa with his feet on the armrest. Eugene sat next to his head, making a coin swirl over the wood of the table. Nicholas was drying the dishes and put them back where they belonged, Toothless lied on a pelt at the stove, the fire that burned inside, made the galley the warmest room on the boat, and the stove was the hotspot. Rapunzel fastened the seam, one of the tears fixed, but she sighed and looked out the window.

"Wonder how it is going for them." She asked the room, not really expecting a reply.

"They'll be fine." Aster said not opening his eyes "Who knows how big tha' cave is?"

"They have been gone for a long time, it must mean they found something." Eugene said making the coin spin again.

"What's Hiccup doing?" Aster asked, Rapunzel hummed and started on another tear.

"Last time I checked he was with Jack." She said.

"He's been at his side ever since they got back on board." Eugene said frowning slightly when the coil didn't want to spin properly.

"Can you blame him?" Nicholas asked turning around, Toothless gave away a snuffling sound and an approving grunt. Rapunzel smiled.

Hiccup sighed leaning back in the chair, he was carving on the wooden ring again, halfway done. He cast a look towards Jack when the teen gave away silent whines, body slowly moving under the blankets. Hiccup reached out and stroked his fingers thru jack's white locks; that were falling down over his eyes, Hiccup frowned slightly when he felt how hot Jack's forehead was. Jack grew silent after a while, his breathing calming and his movements stopping and he was asleep once again. Hiccup retrieved his hand after a while and continued to carve. The lantern spread a warm glow in the small room. Time flew by and he looked up when he heard the door open. Rapunzel walked inside, with two plates in her hand, she smiled at him.

"Hey…" she said and closed the door she walked across the room looking at Jack. "Any news?"

"He got a fever… he seems to be having nightmares now and then, can't really blame him... but Pitch's gone so that man can't torment him anymore." Hiccup looked up at her and put the ring and knife away gathering the chip from his carving in a small pile, before he accepted the plate, Rapunzel stood leaning against the wall.

"So he hasn't woken up jet?"

"Not enough to open his eyes, no." they ate in silence. Jack's breathing was enough for them to know he was still alive. Rapunzel checked up on Jack again when she had finished, he had a fever, Hiccup hadn't been wrong there.

She left with the plates, to return later with a bowl of warm water, she put it on the table and walked over to the wall that was between the doctor's office and Aster's workshop, taking some of her medical herbs in her hands squinting before she took a nip from some of the dried plants and crushed the leaves in her hand before she let it fall into a small strainer, she then walked over to a chest and took up a small bag and put some of the powder that was inside it into the strainer, before she placed her hand over it and shook it a bit, before she put it into the water. A dark brown colour spread out from it as she moved it around in the water.

"What are you doing?" Hiccup asked looking at her.

"Medicine, it will fight the fever, can't give him one of the orbs, don't want him to choke." Hiccup nodded "And he needs to drink something." She took up the strainer and emptied it in a small basket. She took up the bowl and moved over to Jack, giving him it, she held his head up, and he drank after a while, just as slow as be hand before. Rapunzel took away the bowl and sighed, letting back don on the pillow again. "There… keep watch over him okay." She turned to Hiccup who smiled.

"Of course." He started to carve on the ring again. "I'll be right here, if you need me." He said and looked up and smiled before he let his eyes fall back to the knife and wood.

Hiro wasn't screaming anymore, the slide must have been created from water he thought, because it was so smooth, it was in the darkest blue colour he'd ever seen, a bright light suddenly started to grow bigger in front of him, and he screamed when he suddenly were flying in the air, he wafted with his arms and legs before he hit a big pile of leaves on the ground with a loud groan. He squirmed around a bit before he opened his eyes and sat up, getting to his knees in the pile.

"Where in the world am I?" trees stood tall and were covered in greenery, bushes and green grass covered the lower section of the forest he just landed in, but further ahead, behind the forest he saw big stone buildings and something that made him gasp, a bright blue light with big stone heads spinning round it slowly.


	38. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

Hiro looked around he saw the hole that had thrown him here, it was high up on a mountain wall; ice hung from the opening down in sharp ice-stickles that held the mountain. Hiro sighed harshly, he needed to get back to Merida and Tip; he began to climb the wall slowly, oh yeah, and Eret to for that matter. Hiro grimaced as he pulled himself higher up from the ground, he cast a look over his shoulder and saw the big buildings stand tall, in a dark grey stone. He cast a look down but quickly looked back up with a loudly gulp. He took a hold of a rock over him and began to move, when it suddenly let go of the mountain, Hiro stiffened and with a cry fell, he landed hard on the ground, losing his breath, he lied completely still just trying to get it back, his entire body hurt.  
A rustling among the leaves made him crawl up to his feet a bit too fast, he stumbled and collapsed down to his knees again and winched when his wrist flared up in pain.  
The rustling in the bushes grew louder and Hiro swallowed, then a young boy came out form the forest; he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Hiro, and Hiro backed up against the wall his left wrist pulsing in pain.  
The boy then suddenly gave away a cry of an animal, and more rustling was heard before Hiro found himself surrounded by five boy's some older than him, while others were younger, most of them wore clothes that made them look like an animal, but the pale boy wore a to big sweater that hung down over his hands. They began to talk among themselves in a language Hiro didn't understand, he looked worriedly at them, before something glowing bright red came dashing his way, and he gave away a surprised yelp tumbling backwards when he found himself staring into the eyes of an angry blond pixie. One of the boys said something and the pixie began to fly backwards still glaring at Hiro.

"Who are you people?" he asked looking at them, but they just gave him confused looks, before they started to talk among themselves again. Then one of the older boys walked forward and grabbed a hold of his wrist and began to drag him into the forest. "Ouch!" Hiro cried out in pain when his wrist was jerked forward from the boy's tight grip. The boy let go and gave him a confused look, Hiro cradled his wrist in his hand frowning down at it; he must have sprained it when he collapsed to his knees. A shove on his shoulder made him start to walk again, and he was lead thru the forest, the pixie sat on the one of the boy's heads glaring daggers, her glow a bright red.

The big buildings Hiro had seen before grew bigger, and soon the forest ended and he found himself no longer walking on dirt, but on flat rocks, spirals and marks carved into the rocks. Other people were there, but they were grown, some children ran around playing tag, but they stopped and Hiro noticed how they looked at him with fear… why where they afraid of him?

Tip tried to stop in the ice slide, but to no use, her fingers got no grip and her feet slipped and she only ended up spinning around in the slide instead. She stiffened when she notic3ed that it was tipping more and more downwards, she cried out when she was falling instead of sliding. Then she hit her back on the slide again and she was skidding forward far too fast for her liking, then the ice disappeared and she was blinded by bright light, before a loud splash and she found herself in water, she kicked and sat up with a gasp for air, the water reached her to her chest when she was sitting. She coughed, her curly hair like a wet mop over her head and hung down over her eyes, she stroked it away and blinked up to see a small group of grownups stare at her in fear, talking shushed among themselves in a language she didn't understand. A splash behind her made her look up and found herself staring into the brown eyes of a red-haired boy who wore a green hat and clothes, he smiled down at her, a glint in his eye, before he grabbed a hold of her arms and... Lifted from the ground and flew?!

"AH! LET ME DOWN!" Tip shrieked when she saw the ground disappear under her feet. The boy laughed. But didn't let her go, he flew over a city with big towering buildings made from stone, Tip stared around, she was till scared, but understood that the boy wasn't going to let her down anytime soon.

The tunnel was dark and only a blue glow illuminated their surroundings from something the masked people wore. Merida kept casting glances backwards to the masked people who held the spears behind her and Eret.  
A light in the end of the tunnel made her look forward and she heard how Eret gave away a silent grunt and cast him a glance, he looked tense, like the string of a bow ready to snap.  
The light grew bigger but also brighter as the tunnel ended a light so bright and strong it temporarily blinded them, Eret moved one hand to shield his eyes with a hiss, while Merida grunted and put her hands over her eyes forcing her eyes shut, she removed them slowly after a while blinking to get used to the light and gasped, the landscape was beautiful; but what made her gasp was the bright clear blue ice that made the roof around the place, it let the sunlight spread thru and coloured everything in a bluish hue.  
The masked people grunted something and shoved them forward with the spears, to make them start to walk again.

The rocks that had made the floor of the tunnel and cave turned to trampled soil and sand, with stairs made form flat rocks when the small path became too steep among the roots of the trees. Paradise birds flew around among the trees and sang in the trees, hummingbirds zipped around among the flowers, and Merida blinked when she saw pixies fly around in different hues of yellow, which meant they were happy, but she noticed how one saw her and turned purple and hit behind a leaf.

They were led down the snaky path and soon found themselves in the entrance of the city, big buildings in dark stone stood tall towards the ice, and Merida gaped when she saw the blue light in the middle over the tallest of the buildings, big masks made from stone circled around the blue light. They were lead forward to the big staircase of the biggest building. Merida stared up the stairs, and just looking at them, made her exhausted. A jab from the butt of one of the masked people's staffs in her lower back forced her to start walking, Eret was next to her. Halfway up Merida was already breathing hard, even if she had a good coordination, so why were these stairs so tiresome?!

They finally got to the plateau, Merida gasped for air and she cast a look towards Eret so see that he stood with his hands on his knees breathing just as hard as her.

An annoyed sound from one of the masked people, and they were moved past fabrics in bright colours, that hung down over an entrance like a door. A pond in the form of an eye spread out in front of them with flat rocks as the lines. At the far end a fallen big statue was half lying and a group of thrones stood on the plateau; some nothing but rubble but two stood still intact. Fabric hung over them like a roof. Waterfalls fell from fallen pillars and ran down into the pond where pixies flew around among the waterlilies, giving away the sound of small silver clocks as they moved.

One of the masked people called out and two people appeared from behind a pile of fallen; moss-covered boulders; a woman with white long hair and blue eyes, dressed in a blue dress and with a light blue glowing crystal around her neck, she had blue tattoos under her left eye, the man on the other hand wore a darker blue tunic that left his left shoulder naked, where a big blue tattoo of a star with a jagged line in the same pattern around covered his pale skin, he had brown hair and big round glasses, and also he wore a glowing crystal around his neck.

The woman held a spear in her hand and didn't look happy at all she looked like she was ready to snap at any moment, while the man looked to be more observing and drawn back, than the woman. She walked towards them talking in the language the masked people had spoken, said people spread out at the entrance, Merida looked at them raising an eyebrow, before she looked back to the woman who appeared to be in charge… the woman then started to talk again, Merida looked at Eret, he looked surprisingly calm expect the fact that he was still tenser than normal. The woman pointed her spear at them and said something in a demanding voice. Merida gave away a confused sound looking at Eret, before she looked back to the woman.

"Did ye understand what she said?" Merida said in a hushed tone as she glanced up at Eret, he looked down at her, giving a barely noticeable shake of his head. They missed how the man looked at them with more interest in his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak but didn't get the chance.

"PUT ME DOWN! PLEASE!" a desperate voice cried out, a voice Merida and Eret recognised, they looked around, before they found the owner of the voice: Tip.

Merida gaped and heard how Eret choked on the air he breathed at the sight that they saw; Tip was held by the arms by a red-haired boy dressed in green, who… flew… FLEW!  
The boy was laughing before he sent her swinging in his hold before he swung her forward shouting something before letting go of her, Tip shrieked when gravity took a hold of her and she fell thru the air, before she crashed into Eret's chest with a loud thud, he gave away a grunt and stumbled several steps backward because of the momentum, before he got his balance back, and held around her to keep her from falling down, she was shivering from the adrenaline, before she turned to the boy. "YOU! WHY WOULD YOU BLOODY DO THAT?!" she screamed, shaking a clenched fist at him, anger blazing inside her, the boy just laughed hands on his hips there he hovered over the ground.

The woman said something to him in an unamused voice, because the boy frowned slightly before he crossed his arms over his chest saying something in return that earned a swat on the back of his head, knocking the green hat of his head, but he caught it before it hit the ground.

Eret let Tip down to the ground again, she was still shaking and breathed hard thru her nostrils.

"Easy there." Merida said, and patted her on the shoulder. The sniper got an angry snort and grumble in return.

"Let's see if you understand this better." A male voice said, they looked up to find the man with glasses walk towards them, he smiled at the reaction. "It seems like you people do." He looked at the woman. She sighed before she looked at them.

"What do you want?" she asked pointing her spear at them again. "Our treasures? Our power? Your pirates, are you not, all pirates wants power and wealth." She growled out with a slight accent.

"What?" Merida said "No." she looked at the woman.

"Don't play tricks with me pirate. I know your kind." She glared at them "The fountain wasn't enough for your greedy pests, so you come here in search for more to satisfy it." Merida gaped at her.

"I wonder where Hiro is." Tip said looking around staying close to the red haired woman making Merida blink and look down at the young girl.

"He could be anywhere, we have no idea where he ended up…" Eret said with a sigh. "I hope the kid's alright." he mumbled dragging a hand over his face. "Nicholas told me to keep an eye on you three… and I have already disappointed him…" he sighed.

"Oh shut yer trap." Merida said and elbowed him playfully in the side before she crossed her arms. "Nicholas isn't one to easily get upset, also Hiro's a strong kid, he'll manage; or who knows, maybe the masks found 'im and is bringing 'im here as we speak."

A toot from a trumpet made them look up and they saw how a group of children in different ages all dressed in animal costumes came walking.

"Merida! Tip! Eret!" they suddenly heard a voice call out and Hiro ran towards them, getting a surprised shout from the child who held the trumpet. He ran up to them and hugged around Tip, before he blinked and let go of her. "Why are you drenched?"

"I landed in a pool." Tip said in an unamused voice scowling at the side, before she saw how Hiro held his wrist. "You're hurt." He gave away a strained laugh, before he gave her apologetic smile

"I landed badly."

"Hiro! Don't scare us like tha." Merida said hands on her hips and a half-hearted glare in her eye. "The same goes for ye Tip, if the ice breaks for one of ya don't run out on it too!"

"Says the one who was dashing after them like mad…" Eret said.

"Ay!" Merida shouted. "They didn't nee to know that!" she jabbed Eret hard in the chest, he snorted in amusement.

Kida stared at them in shock, before she looked towards Milo, the man smiled at her and walked up to her side.

"Do they still seem like bad people to you?" he asked.

"They're pirates, all pirates are bad." Kida said in annoyance.

"But we haven't had pirates with children here before."

"Kidnapped?" she still didn't sound happy.

"Doesn't look like it." Milo said looking towards the crew "I never seen kidnapped children look so confident and safe with their kidnappers."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Family maybe?" Kida squinted towards the crew trying to see what Milo saw.

"I… don't think so…" she said slowly. "I don't see the similarities."

"A family isn't always of blood, but of bond." Milo said and smiled. Before he took some steps forward. "I excuse my friend's rude manner, but she isn't keen on trusting pirates." Milo said to get the crews attention. They looked at him. "Anyone else who's lost, or are you all here?" he asked.

"We are the only ones who went down 'ere, the rest is still on tha ship." Merida said.

"And why did you four come down here?"

"We were looking for food." Tip chipped.

"Yeah! Because our ship got frozen stuck in the ice, and we will run out of food if we can't get free from the ice." Hiro said.

"And we got injured who needs warmer climate!" Tip said.

"Yeah! Toothless is pretty much taking up the entire space at the stove." Hiro said Tip opened her mouth to speak again but Eret placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I believe they have understood." He said.

"So you're not here for the treasures then." Milo said.

"To tell ya the truth, we didn't even know this place existed, ay thought it was just a frozen island." Merida said.

"What's wrong with the wounded?" Kida asked walking up to Milo's side, she had lowered the spear and gave them a searching look.

"Well…" Merida started looking at Tip.

"Hiccup managed to break jack from a full hypnotism but Jack haven't woken up since then. Toothless fought the mountain lion of the Nightmare Dragon… same lion attacked Eret." Tip pointed at Eret.

"The Nightmare Dragon!" Kida and Milo cried out in shock; staring at them with big and scared eyes.

"They're from the Night Fury crew." Eret said and gestured to Merida, Tip and Hiro. "I was a slave on the Nightmare Dragon, but their crew saved me and Jack from Drago's and Pitch's tyranny." Eret looked at Kida and Milo before he looked down at Merida and the two kids.

"It… has been a long time since someone mentioned that ship on this ground…" Kida said slowly.

"Overland and his crew were the last ones…"

"Overland?" Hiro and Tip said in one mouth looking at them "As in _Overland_ Frost?" they asked. Kida gave them a confused look.

"Yeah… Overland Frost." Milo said "You know him." Hiro and Tip looked at each other.

"Kind of…" they said.


	39. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

 _The sky was still dark when he packed his belongings, as silently as he could, he cast a look towards his wife, she lied on the other side of the bed sleeping soundly; he walked over to her and kissed her brow before he walked out from the room and down the stairs. He placed the bag on the kitchen table and began to look for things he needed, a spoon, fork and knife went into the bag along with a plate made of wood; he threw in his pocket flask as well. His logbook followed, along with a compass and maps, lots of maps. He stiffened when he heard the stairs creak, he looked up to see his wife walk down, wobbling a bit due to her stomach where their youngest was spending it's early life. She had a knitted plaid over her shoulders and she crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe._

 _"And where are you going in this ungodly hour of the morning?" she asked in a voice that showed she wanted answers. "Are you planning on going after that "Fountain" without telling the rest of the family?" she glared at him, he sighed tiredly._

 _"Dear, you need to rest; don't put unnecessary strain on your body."_

 _"Don't avoid the subject, Overland." She said her voice growing annoyed._

 _"I'm not avoiding the subject dear." He said turning around and continued to pack, before he closed the bag. "Tell him I'm sorry." The man threw the bag over his shoulder and began to walk towards the door._

 _The first rays of the sun shone in thru the kitchen window._

 _"You can tell him that yourself!" the woman shouted walking after him, but she didn't get to him before he was out the door. "Overland!" she shouted following some steps out from the door, but pain shot from her stomach and she grunted placing her hand on it, feeling how the baby moved in unease. "Schh~ it's okay little one… don't be afraid…" she whispered, before she looked up to find that the man was already at the edge of the city. Anger flared up inside her and she slammed the door shut storming into the kitchen, the staggered a bit, and the anger turned to sadness, she pulled out one of the chairs and crashed down on it hiding her face in her hands as she cried._

 _The man stopped and looked back towards the house when he heard the door slam shut, it was illuminated in the suns morning rays, he faltered for a moment, before he sighed and turned back towards the harbour; he walked with determination in his steps, and a glower on his face as he tried not to think of how his son would react to this._

 _He saw the boat he was going to board, and one of the crewmembers waved at him when they saw him. He got on-board._

 _"So you came after all." A light tanned man with black hair and brown eyes said, on his shoulder a monkey sat munching on a pear. "Most of us believed you would stay, at least till the child was born."_

 _"They will manage without me." The man said looking over the ship. "Aladdin, tell the captain we can leave, when ready." The tanned smiled and walked away._

 _The ship lifted anchor and started to float out from the harbour._

 _"DAD!" a young voice cried out and the man stiffened and fought back all his emotions to not turn around, if he did… he wouldn't be able to keep going. The voice cried out again, and Overland chewed on the inside of his cheek, gripping his crossed arms hard._

 _The ship left the harbour and was out on open water, he turned around first now, seeing the small form of his son. His lovely and strong son stand at the harbour._

 _"Sorry Jack." The man said slowly. "Take care of your mother for me."_

Rapunzel sighed as she entered the doctor's office with two bowls of soup, Hiccup sat on the chair next to the bed where Jack slept, he had regained most of his skin colour, but he still had ark circles under his eyes. Hiccup looked up when she closed the door.

"How is he?" she asked handing him the warmest bowl, before she began to feed Jack with the other, he drank slowly, no indication of waking up.

"Like the dead…" Hiccup sighed as he sipped at the soup. "I have to double check most of the times because I believe he's stopped breathing…" Rapunzel looked up at him. Hiccup looked horrible, his hair was ruffled and stood in all directions and he had dark circles and blood shot eyes,

"You should try to get some sleep to, Hiccup." She took away the now empty bowl from Jack and moved her free hand to Hiccup's cheek, he was warm. "You already got a fever." He sighed.

"But Jack…"

"Will not disappear if you sleep for a couple of hours." She smiled at him. "Please Hiccup."

"What about Eret, Merida, Tip and Hiro?" Hiccup asked fighting back a yawn.

"They're not back jet." Rapunzel sighed and a worried look fell over her face. "I hope their alright, they're been gone for three days now."

"Doesn't that mean they found something..?" Hiccup tried to reassure her.

"But what if they got lost in the cave?"

"Don't worry about it Rapunzel." She gave him a sad look, before she sighed and took Hiccup's empty bowl form his hand, she walked to the door before she turned to him.

"Get some sleep, doctors' orders."

"Yes, yes." Hiccup said and smiled at her. She left.

He looked towards Jack and reached forward and started to play with his white locks.

"Wake up, please…" he murmured before he fell asleep sitting on the chair with his head resting on one hand, the other fell still on Jack's head.

"In what way do you people know Overland?" Kida asked gripping the spear harder. "Are you part of his crew?!"

"No!" Tip cried out. "Overland stopped by on out hometown when we were younger and gave us a chest that he told us to give to his son. And said son is now on our ship sleeping without even a slight sign of waking up after Hiccup managed to break the mind control." Tip looked at the woman.

"And if it will make ya happy Overland is dead." Merida said "The crew of the Nightmare Dragon killed him and kidnapped Jack at the same time, and made him to their slave." Eret sighed.

"Then they burned down the entire city…" Eret didn't look happy about it.

"I never met Overland, and from what Jack told me he wants nothing to do with the father who left." Merida said.

"When was this?" Milo asked.

"Overland left his son and pregnant wife ten years ago…" Merida said slowly.

"He was here two months ago." Milo said and hummed.

"No, that can't be. Overland was killed half a year ago… he can't have been here." Eret said

"Time here and back on the surface goes differently. It's all thanks to the fountain." Kida said.

"Wait… how old are you two?"

"I'm 8,650 years old, and Milo is 732 years old." Kida said. Merida, Tip and Hiro gaped at them and Eret blinked in surprise. That was show enough for the Fountain of Youth's power.

"Wait… oh no!" Tip cried out.

"What's wrong?" Merida asked worriedly.

"If time here moves slower than time up on the surface… What if they already starved or frozen to death!" Tip grabbed a hols of Merida's arms. "We need to get back up there!"

"Tip, calm down." Merida said "I don't believe so much time has passed, maybe a day or two."

Kida looked at Milo who looked back at her, and they both nodded in understanding.

"Wait here." Kida said and walked away, Milo looked after her for a moment, before he shouted out an order to the masked people, who nodded and some ran away.

"What are you doing?" Eret asked casting Milo a look.

"You'll see." The man said and smiled.

The masked people returned then with two big bags, they put them down next to the crew before they walked back to their previous post. Kida returned with a small box in her hand, it had the symbol of a sun carved into the wood, she held it out and Merida took it.

"What's this?" she asked opening the box to find dried golden flower petals,

"Healing Tea." Kida said "You said you have wounded on your ship, and since you seem like good people…" she sighed "Despite my better judgement I have decided to trust you, and help you, give this to the wounded and they will be back to normal in no time, I will also let you take some food with you for the rest of your crew." She said, Merida nodded.

"Thank you." she said and smiled.

"What do you mean with Healing tea?" Tip asked looking into the box in confusion, before she looked up at Kida.

"This flowers is not just any flower." Milo said and picked up one of the petals. "This flowers history starts with the Sun." he smiled "Once a really, really long time ago before the ice covered the sky, there was a single drop of sunshine that fell from the heavens, and from this small drop of sun, grew a magic, golden flower. It had the ability to heal the sick and injured." Tip stared at him in awe. "By taking one petal and drying it, then waiting for it to grow back, before you continue the same cycle over and over." Milo closed the box and looked at them. "One petal for one person. Now go, you four have already been her for too long. Peter will lead the way." Milo called out to the flying boy who looked up and flew over to them, he smirked at Tip who scowled back.

They stopped at the entrance of the tunnel, Peter hovering in front of it, he waved at them as they entered it. Being swallowed by the darkness. Tip clung to Merida's arm, to not lose her in the dark, while Hiro held a tight grip of Nicholas coat that Eret was wearing, Merida held her free hand on the coat as well. All to keep them from losing each other in the pitch black darkness. A faint light filled the tunnel in front of them and they soon found themselves out in the big cave again.

"That's weird, I thought the tunnel was longer." Merida said and turned to look back to it, but found that it wasn't there anymore, she did a double take and stared before she began to walk again.

"Wonder how long we were gone…" Tip asked worry creeping into her voice.

"Not to long… I hope…" Eret mumbled out.

The chalices had gotten covered in a thick layer of frost, there they laid frozen stuck to the ground. The fountain was frozen over and the water that had been running down into it was nowhere to be seen. Eret frowned slightly, the fountain had been alive when he last saw it.

Aster walked around the ship, down on the ice, the ice was thick around the length between, the beginning of his hand, to his middle finger. Aster grumbled under his breath, the ship was frozen stuck alright, the only question was how they were going to get it out of the ice. A silent crack reached his ears, and he saw how a small crack ran past him in the ice. He looked after it before he looked towards where the ocean was still open, he began to walk towards the edge of the ice, only to find more cracks, a loud pop made him stiff when the ice swayed under him, he backed back the way he'd gone not trusting the ice further up ahead with his safety, he had no plans on falling thru the ice in this weather. That was when he saw it, dark clouds in the horizon moving towards the ship slowly, but it was clear that the storm was a strong one. Aster looked back to the ship. The wood was strong, but being pressed by ice from all directions… it wasn't built for that.

"Ay! Eugene!" he called out when he got to the ship. It didn't take long before said man appeared at the railing.

"What?" he asked.

"Get down here and get Tadashi too, take three spears with you as well."

"For what?"

"To get the ship free from the ice before the storm hits."

"Storm? What storm?" Eugene gave him a confused look. Aster pointed towards the storm that had grown closer.

"That one." Eugene looked up and gulped when he saw the dark clouds.

"Oh…" he then walked out from Aster's sight.

Aster tapped his foot against the ice as he waited, and had to jump backwards to not get hit in the head by the metal spears that was thrown to the ice where he'd just stood. Eugene and Tadashi then appeared and jumped down to the ice.

"So what are wo going to do?" Tadashi asked.

"When the storm hits we have no idea how the ice will react, but I fear it might break and if the ship is frozen stuck, it might get damaged and start to take in water, then we're stuck here." Aster said "So we are to chop up the ice around the hull so that if the ice breaks the ship will be saved." Eugene and Tadashi nodded and picked up the spears.

"Let's do this then." Eugene said.

The storm grew closer and with it, the wind grew in strength, and the air got colder. The crack they made in the ice around the ship wasn't deep enough to get to the water, but it weakened the ice. Aster had lost the feeling in his fingers and toes and his face felt stiff, but he kept working, the same went for Tadashi and Eugene.

"Hey! Tadashi! Eugene! Aster!" a voice suddenly called out, they looked up to find Tip and Hiro run towards them, Merida and Eret walked further behind, Eret had two bags over his shoulders and Merida carried a small box in her hands.

"Hey. Took yer sweet time." Aster said as he hit the spear into the ice one more time.

"How long were we gone?" Tip asked when the two stopped in front of them, Merida and Eret reached them as well.

"Five days." Eugene said "We were starting to worry that something happened to you."

"Hiro… your wrist." Tadashi said and reached forward to take it. Hiro flinched and pulled it back to his chest.

"You're freezing!" he cried out, before he sighed "I'm fine… I just sprained it badly…"

"Well it seems you found something after all." Eugene said mentioning to the bags Eret was carrying and the box Merida held in her hands.

"Yeah…" Eret said. Aster cast a look towards the direction of the storm and growled.

"We better leave the ice." He said "The storm will hit soon, and I rather not stand over freezing water when it does."

"Storm?" The four of them asked in one. Aster, Eugene and Tadashi gestured to the big dark cloud in the east. "Oh…" Merida said.

They got back on-board the ship just as the ice gave away a loud sound similar to a gunshot. The ship jolted, making them tumble there they stood, the wind picked up.

"Get inside! NOW!" Aster ordered shouting over the roar of the wind as he forced the door to the galley open, against the wind that blew hard.

Snow started to fall, but the snow was hard and more like hail it grew in mass and soon it crashed down over the ship and island. Another loud sound was heard and Nicholas who stood at the window staring out, the snow that crashed down made it extremely hard to see. And if you left the galley there was a high chance you got lost while still being on the ship.

Eret put the bags down in the middle of the galley and helped Nicholas get the food inside the pantry, while Merida walked over to the bench, putting the box onto the table before she sighed heavily and slumped down on to the bench. Rapunzel looked at the box and raised one eyebrow.

"What's this?" she asked taking the box in her hand.

"Tea." Tip said. "Kida and Milo gave it to us, it has the power to heal the sick and injured."

"Who's Kida and Milo?" Eugene asked confused. "Also, how did you find so much food in a cave?" Merida looked at Eret who looked back at her, Tip and Hiro looked form themselves to the other two.

"Well…" Hiro started before he scratched the back of his head. "You're not gonna believe this."

"Try me." Aster said and crossed his arms over the table and looked at each one of them.

They looked at each other, before they started to tell in chronical order what happened. About how Hiro and Tip fell thru the ice in the cave, and about the masked people, and the city and Kida and Milo and the lost boys along with the fairies.

"They then let us go, and gave us the food and the tea." Tip said and.

Rapunzel picked up one of the petals from the box and studied it.

"I never seen this kind of flower before."

"It's from the sun." Hiro said. "Milo told us about it."

"A magical flower from sun, da; the world has always new thing for surprise." Nicholas said and chuckled.

"Any new about Jack?" Eret asked looking at Rapunzel, she sighed. And suddenly looked so very tired.

"From what I can tell, he seem to have gotten better, but he haven't woken up jet, Hiccup won't leave his side unless you drag him away to make sure of that he slept. In the end we had to install one of the hammocks in the doctor's office for him to sleep in."

"So no improvement…" Eret sat down on one of the chairs.

"No there's been improvement, compare to how pale he was before he has regained most of his body colour. So I believe he's getting better… but it's hard to tell when he haven't shown any indication of waking up." Toothless rose from his spot next to the fireplace and whined in pain as his body argued against him, but he walked over to Eret and placed his head on the former slaves lap looking up at him with big eyes, Eret stiffened and stared down at the panther unsure of what to do, he slowly placed his hand on Toothless head, the panther smiled and snuggled into the touch.

"He likes ya." Merida and Aster said grinning at him.

Rapunzel looked at the petal still between her fingers.

"So… how do you prepare this tea?" she asked looking to Tip.

"You do as with any tea, but one leaf for one person." The girl answered smiling. Rapunzel nodded and got up from the chair she sat on, still holding the leaf, she put it into one of the bowl before she took a kettle and filled with water, she then put it on the stove for it to get warm.

"Okay Toothless, since I can't go over to Jack at the moment because of the storm, I will deal with you first." The Panther looked at her, before he padded over to her halting still, giving her a confused look. "It's not often I do tea for cats." Rapunzel sank down on her heels and scratched him under the chin. Rapunzel rose up and removed the kettle from the pot before the water had boiled, it was just very warm, she poured the water over the leaf and stared in amazement as it grew golden and turned to a haze in the warm water, colouring it in a golden colour. She put the kettle down before she blew in the tea and dipped her finger to make sure it wasn't too hot. She took the bowl and sank down with it to the floor. "Here you go, drink it all up, okay." Toothless sniffed at the tea, it had a nice smell to it that spread in the entire galley, like the smell of earth and blooming flowers after rain. Toothless first took a taste, it taste honey he blinked before he began to drink, but three gulps later he flinched visibly and the fur on his body that was visible among the bandages stood on end, his tail went fuzzy and he jerked his head back with a grimace ears flat against his head. His tongue hanging out from his mouth as he shook his head at the same time he dug his claws into the wood. He gave away a disgusted sound. Rapunzel looked at him. "Drink all of it." She said, Toothless glared at her and shook his head. "Toothless." She said in a warning, Toothless growled his pupils growing small as he glared at Rapunzel. "Either you drink it on your own or I will make you." She said glaring right back. "Doctors' orders." And that was it. Toothless whined loudly looking at her with pleading eyes, but she had a stubborn look on her face. He grumbled under his breath snorting before he looked back to the bowl of tea… oh how much he wanted to swat it out, but he knew he'd get scolded for that. He glared at the tea for a long time before he forced his eyes shut and drank the rest. When the bowl was empty the swatted it away angrily and glared away from them his tail thumping against the wood. "Good boy." Rapunzel said in a happy voice as she began to scratch and pet him. Toothless tried to stay mad, but it was hard especially when Rapunzel knew all the spots he liked to be patted on best.

In the end he was sitting no more or less lying over Rapunzel, he didn't realize the pain from the wounds were gone until Rapunzel noticed and took away the bandages.

"Well will you look at that, it does indeed heal the injured."

The snow piled up on the ship as the ice shattered into big shards that crashed against each other and turned to smaller ones, the trail Aster, Eugene and Tadashi had hacked out around the ship had saved the hull, but made the ship end up wearing a belt of ice. The storm raged on for the entire night, the wind roaring, and the hail hitting down. Everyone fell asleep under the storms alarm from pure tiredness, but once they fell asleep they slept. They woke in the morning by the sudden silence that was left by the storms passing. And the first thing they did was to force their way out from the galley and start to shovel the ship free from the chest deep wall of snow and hail that the storm had created.


	40. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

Nicholas steered the ship away from the island and the ice, towards warmer climate, most of the snow was still on the ship and the crew and to shovel the deck free from snow, Nicholas had ordered them to fill the snow in a big pot, never decline free water. Nicholas had said Tip and Hiro made the snow packed together in the pot for it to be able to have more snow in it, then one of them took the pot down into the galley and returned with an empty one and the whole process continued.

In the evening, Rapunzel made the tea for Jack, from one of the petals from the flower; Tip followed some steps behind carrying the plate with Hiccup's food. They entered the room, Hiccup looked up and smiled at them, he looked healthier, when he got enough sleep. Tip walked over to him and handed him the plate.

"Thank you, Tip." He said and took the plate. He looked at the bowl Rapunzel held in her hand. "More soup?" Hiccup asked.

"No, tea…" Rapunzel said as she placed the bowl at Jack's lips

"Tea?"

"It's tea from a magic flower." Tip said "When we were in the cave we found Atlantis, and they gave us a bow of dried flower petals form that flower, it has the ability to heal the sick and injured."

"Do you know if it works?" Hiccup asked as he ate

"I gave it to Toothless earlier; he is back to normal, not even any scars." Rapunzel said, Jack was drinking just as slow as he used to do when he drank the soup, and Rapunzel hand her eyes sealed to his face, she didn't want him to react the same way Toothless had, and end up with tea all over himself. She removed the bowl when it was empty and placed it on the floor, no reaction at first, then Jack responded the most he'd ever done the past days, he grimaced and a groan left him as his body moved stiffly, as if he was in pain.  
Hiccup who hadn't seen how Toothless had reacted stopped eating to just stare at the teen.

"What's going on?" he asked, eyes flashing between Rapunzel and Jack.

"Toothless reacted the same way, but faster." Rapunzel said as she tried to keep Jack from falling of the bed. He raised his hands and arms stiffly before he grabbed at his head rolling to the side giving away a choked cry, before he rolled over to his back again clawing at his chest and throat as he dug his heels into the mattress arching his back another choked sound left him. Hiccup put the plate of food onto the small table before he got up from the chair in a hurry.

"Is he supposed to act like this?" He asked casting a fearful look towards Rapunzel who had her lips pressed together and her eyebrows furrowed as he tried to hold Jack's wrist to keep him from hurting himself.

"I… I don't know, I have no idea how it works when a human drink it! Toothless seemed just disgusted by the taste." She looked to Jack who collapsed back onto the bed limp as a ragdoll choking on the air as he coughed at the same time. "I don't know!" Sweat covered his body making his white hair stick to his forehead. Jack gave away a pained choked cry before he went still on the bed, his chest rising and falling fast as he gasped for air. That was when Hiccup noticed the brown strains of hair coming from Jack's scalp and merged with the white locks. Rapunzel slowly let go of his wrists they fell back to the bed. Jack's breathing slowed so much that it appeared to stop. He was pale again.

"Jack?" Hiccup asked slowly.

No reaction.

Hiccup sat down on the bed and cupped Jack's face with one hand, stroking some of the bangs away from his forehead with the other. Jack was as still as the dead. "Don't give up." Hiccup murmured placing his forehead against Jack's "Not now." He could feel how Jack had grown cold under his touch. "Not like this." Hiccup pleaded.

Silence filled the room. Tip looked at Rapunzel who stood with one hand over her mouth eyes searching Jack's face for any indication of life.  
But nothing.  
Hiccup straightened his back and stroked one of his thumbs under Jacks eye, feeling a limp grow in his throat, had he lost him? Had he actually lost him? "Please, come back…" he whispered his voice almost cracking "Jack, I want you back..." he said as in a prayer.

Jack's brows knitted and he frowned slightly before his eyes moved under his eyelids, Hiccup held his breath, Jack's eyelids fluttered for a moment before Jack blinked his eyes open.  
Rapunzel gasped placing her other hand over her mouth along with the first one and Tip's eyes grew wide as a big grin smile grew on her lips.  
Hiccup looked into the brown and blue eyes that he had missed so much; they were open, yes, but not looking at him, they weren't really looking at anything unfocused.

"Hey…" Hiccup said a smile growing on his lips as tears of happiness appeared in his eyes, even if he wasn't sure Jack saw him or not. Jack blinked slowly eyes still unfocused before he closed his eyes again and leaned into Hiccup's touch, as he sighed and fell asleep again.

"He woke up" Hiccup said and smiled, moving his thumb under Jack's eyes. Jack's face had relaxed and he was breathing calmly, not as mechanical as he had done before.  
He seemed to be actually asleep and not in that strange coma like state.

"If only for a moment…" Rapunzel said. "But it is a great improvement." she smiled and patted Hiccup on the shoulder, squeezing it a bit. "I'll go and tell the others, don't forget to eat."

"Eret will be thrilled about this!" Tip said and ran to the door, she opened it only to almost get run over by Toothless, the panther ran past Rapunzel and placed his paws on the bed to look at Jack with worry.

"He must have heard." Rapunzel said. "Don't worry Toothless, he's fine now." The Panther looked at her before he buffed Jack's face with his nose. A silent grumble left Jack at the cold touch of Toothless nose, Hiccup laughed at that, before he took the plate and continued to eat.

Tip looked around the ship, before she found Eret, he stood next to the ladder and looked at Dagur who sat on the floor next to him; he kept the other slave under his eye when Toothless was inside the doctor's office.

"Eret!" Tip called out running up to him. He hummed and looked at her.

"Tip? What is it?" he asked with a smile, she was grinning.

"It's Jack." She said

"Is that prick finally dead?" Dagur said grinning at her in a threatening way, Tip faltered and she took a secure step away from Dagur, Eret swatted the man hard on the back of his head, Dagur growled and glared up at him. "Fucking soft heart." He grumbled "When Drago get here he won't be forgiving." The male said and crossed his arms over his chest grinning. "He will surely kill you this time, from all the times you've betrayed him." Dagur had a confident grin, and his entire body spoke of it. Eret sneered at him, his eyes changed, Tip had never seen them like that; they were kind of scary.

"You really believe he will come for you?" Eret asked in a cold tone. "Did you even see the state of the Nightmare Dragon?" Eret's voice only grew colder and harsher.

"Yeah! I got a taste first-hand by that brat's power!" Dagur spat back

"Alpha finally got a meal." Eret said "I'm not surprised he attacked the hand that feed him."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Dagur shouted.

"It means." Nicholas walked over to them, his blue eyes burrowing daggers into Dagur's body. "That your captain is dead, he was eaten by the lion he commanded, because he didn't earn its loyalty." Dagur burst out laughing.

"Lies. Alpha wouldn't dare." He laughed. Eret glared at him.

"And you were always an idiot." He grumbled.

"What was that!?"

"You heard me." Eret spat back. Before he looked at Tip and he sank down on his heels at her, to get in eye level. "Now what did you say about Jack?" he asked. Tip blinked and cast a look at Dagur before she looked back to Eret.

"Rapunzel gave Jack the tea we got from Milo, he seemed to be in pain at first, but so did Toothless if you remember."

"Yes, now what about Jack?"

"He kind of woke up." she scratched her cheek "He opened his eyes and reacted a bit, before he fell asleep again."

"He woke up?" Eret asked Tip nodded and smiled big, a pleased look spread over Eret's face and he smiled "He woke up." he breathed out with a chuckle.

Aster opened the door to the doctor's office and looked at Hiccup, two days had passed since they left Neverland, and the climate had gotten warmer, but they all still wore their winter clothes.

"Hiccup." The Pooka called out, the captain looked up raising an eyebrow in reply.

"Aster what is it?"

"Can I ask ya something, it's important?"

"Sure… what is it?"

"Dagur is a real pain and Toothless temper seems to get shorter each moment the slave opens his mouth." the Pooka started "So I was wondering; what are we going to do with him or both of them?" Hiccup thought for a moment "Also… the reason I came here, Dagur's causing a rucks in the galley, and I believe that Toothless **will** bite his head off if it continues." Hiccup blinked and got up from the chair he was sitting on to go to the galley, but he stopped and cast a look towards Jack; the teen was lying on his side the blanket pulled up to his ear he was sleeping soundly. "He will be fine, Hiccup." Hiccup nodded slowly before he walked out from the room followed by the Pooka.

Already on deck they could hear the commotion from the galley, Merida and Tadashi with Hiro and Tip stood staring at door as if they were ready for it to blow up. Hiccup sighed and pushed the door to the galley open.

"What's with all the commotion?" he asked but had to duck when a knife hit the wall next to where his head had been just some seconds ago. Hiccup stared at the knife before he looked at the scene in front of him. Toothless stood growling his fur bristling at the dark haired boy who was on the floor under Merida, she had a dark look on her face, Eugene were sitting on the floor holding a piece of raw meat to his face, Rapunzel sat next to him holding a hand on the meat, she looked at Hiccup and gave him an weak smile.

"Give up already ye bloody barbarian." Merida grumbled, but Dagur only squirmed under her trying to get free.

"Never!" he shouted, before he looked at Eret. "Help me you bastard!" Eret just looked at him.

"Don't drag me into this, you started throwing a fit, I'm not going to help you out of it."

"Backstabbing Bastard!" Dagur shouted "You Traitor!" Eret grew stiff there he sat and he glared darkly at the other slave.

"Traitor?" a bitterly laugh left him, as he rose from the bench.

"I'm not in the moon to deal with you." The tall man said and left the Galley.  
Hiccup sighed and placed his hand over his face.

"Does anyone care to explain what happened?" he asked loud enough that Dagur stopped struggling for a moment to glare at him instead. Nicholas sighed there he stood leaning against the workbench.

"Kid got hold of one kitchen knife, the one that is in wall." Nicholas said and pointed at the knife "He then tried to get out from the galley by force and threat."

"I tried to stop him and he punched me in the face, my beautiful face." Eugene said in a pout from his spot on the floor.

"Then I tackled 'im to the ground and pinned 'im 'ere." Merida said. Pushing Dagur's shoulder to the floor again, gaining a growl in return. Hiccup looked at all of them nodding slowly.

"So as I was saying before, I believe it's time we decide what to do with him, before he actually kills someone." Aster said and gestured to Dagur in a tired gesture.

"Yeah yeah…" Hiccup said massaging his forehead with his fingers. "Rapunzel." He then said looking to the blond woman; she looked up at him raising one eyebrow in a silent question. "Closest island with a marine base?" Hiccup asked.

"Hmm..." Rapunzel thought for a moment, mumbling names of islands under her breath, before she looked back to him. "That would be, Port Chillon." Rapunzel said. "If we keep this course we will get close it on three four days... why do you ask?" Hiccup just gave her a look and nodded towards Dagur.

"A chance to get him of the ship." He said and then turned to the stairs. "Take the ship as close as you dare, put him in a barrel or jolly when we're close enough, then leave. I'll be with Jack." Hiccup left the galley.

Hiccup saw Eret the moment he closed the galley door; the man stood at the railing leaning against it with his hip, arms crossed over his chest, and gaze lost over the calm sea. He still had Nicholas coat over his shoulders, despite his tries to give it back to the older man.

"Eret." He said walking over towards the former slave; he jerked and looked back to Hiccup, before he sighed in something that seemed to be relief.

"What is it Hiccup?" he asked turning so he was facing the captain.

"Any plans on where to go after all this?" Hiccup stopped at the railing on Eret's left side and leaned against the railing facing the water.

"Not really..." Eret said "I kind of grew up on the oceans... I have nowhere to go, and I'm no longer my own person, even if Drago is dead... I still have the mark..." Eret placed his hand over his the place where the scar was. Hiccup cast him a look before he chewed on the inside of his cheek thinking; he opened his mouth again after a while off silence.

"If you want to we can take you to the nearest island with a port so you can go wherever you want..." Hiccup looked out over the ocean. Eret cast him a look before he sighed.

"I don't know... I have already burdened you and your crew enough as it is-"

" _Burdened_?! Eret, you of one is **not** a burden." Hiccup was looking the man in the eye. "You helped us, and you helped Jack countless of times, probably more than I know of." Eret just gaped at him.

"I... uh... thanks?" Hiccup laughed.

"I have a offer for you." He said; Eret was listening. "If you want to, you can become a part of the Night Fury crew; I even dare to believe that Jack would be delighted if you joined." Eret just stared at him in shock, and surprise, before he smiled.

"I'd be honoured."


	41. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

To Eret's surprise was the only one who wasn't happy about him joining Dagur, the former slave was grumbling and his tongue got even sharper in annoyance and anger. He also realized he had a lot in common with the crew. They had all taken a liking to him, and he couldn't be gladder, they had saved his life after all. And it was just like Rapunzel had said; the crew were one big family, and now they had opened their arms for him to join.

Port Chillon came in sight after two and a half day, the big white stone building stood tall, the island were big and if you looked closely you could see the masts of the marine ships behind the island, in the dock. Rapunzel looked at the house, before she walked down from the helm and knocked on the door to the doctor's office, before she opened it.

"Hiccup, we're near Port Chillon, how close shall we go?" she asked, Hiccup got up from the chair, casting one look at Jack, the teen was sleeping on his stomach at the moment. Hiccup chuckled a bit before he closed the door behind him.

"We are to go close enough that they can see us, but not too close, ready one of the dinghy, Eret." He turned to the tall man. "Have you done what I asked you to?" the man smiled and nodded, holding out a flask with a letter in it.

"I did, I wrote what you told me to." Hiccup nodded.

"Good." He walked up to the helm and turned the ship so that it was going with its side facing the island. "Aster! Fire away." Hiccup said, Aster gave away a laugh before he and Hiro loaded the canon for a blank shot. Hiro then light the fuse, and a loud bang was heard as a big cloud of smoke rose from the canon. "How is it looking Merida?" Hiccup asked the archer who stood in the crow's nest with Eugene.

"Oh, they act like ants in an attacked anthill." She called back.

"Keep an eye out so that they don't start to approach with their ships."

"Ay, ay."

" _LET GO OF ME YOU FAT BASTARD!_ " Dagur's voice shouted from the galley and soon the door opened, revealing Dagur held in Nicholas hands, he was twisting and kicking, trying to get free, but Nicholas grip didn't budge, Toothless walked next to them, he glared at Dagur growling at the male.

"Where do you want him?" Nicholas asked, looking at Hiccup.

"Overboard."

The dinghy were already in the water, a rope still holding it to the ship. The bottle with the letter were in it, it swayed in the waves. Nicholas walked towards the railing, changing grip of Dagur.

"No, you're not- No!" Dagur shouted when he realized what was going to happen. Nicholas were just about to throw him overboard.

"Nicholas wait." Eret said. Nicholas stopped and put Dagur so that his feet touched the deck.

"What is it Eret?" Dagur grinned.

"I see you haven't fully betrayed me, Eret." Dagur said.

"I have something for him." Eret said and walked towards them, he cracked his knuckles. "I've wanted to do this for a while." Eret then punched Dagur in the face; the former slave toppled over the railing and splashed into the water. It didn't take long before Dagur broke the surface coughing.

"You'll pay for that!" Dagur shouted. As he began to swim towards the dinghy, he grabbed its side and pulled himself on board it, drenched to the bone.

"Oh I'm sorry, what was that? I didn't quite hear you!" Eret called back. The rope holding the dinghy was cut off and the small boat jerked, at the sudden stop of speed and made Dagur fall backwards hitting his head against the hull. The Bewilderbeast moved fast over the waters. Dagur was growling.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS! YOU WILL ALL PAY FOR THIS!" Dagur shouted. A shadow suddenly fell over him, and he turned his head around.  
A big marine ship was floating next to the dinghy and him.

Thomas stood at the wall watching the ocean, he had his arms crossed over it and a pout on his lips, nothing fun happened here, Port Chillon was stationed in one of the least trafficked waters, his red hair blew in the wind and his brown eyes looked over the waters in boredom.

"You look really bored." A voice suddenly said, Thomas jolted in to an upstanding pose and turned his head to find himself face to face with the captain of Port Chillon; Captain Eric Andersen. The captain stood with his hands on his hips and a smile on his lips, his black hair blew in the wind and his icy blue eyes were friendly.

"Ah... sorry captain..." Thomas said and scratched the back of his head. "It's just things rarely happens here..." he turned his head to the water and grew silent. "Boat..." he said. Eric turned his head and saw the big grey ship move towards them.

"Do you recognize the ship, lieutenant?" Eric asked. Thomas shook his head and took up his binocular and looked towards the ship.

"It got a red flag in the main mast..." he said slowly. "And a dragon drawn on the biggest sail..."

"Dragon you say? What kind?"

"I... uh..." Thomas squinted, the ship floated closer. "It's the flag of the Night Fury."

"The Night Fury?" Eric took the binocular and looked as well. "What are they planning to do?" then the sound of a canon was heard. And they saw the smoke rise from one of the canons on the ship.

"Are they attacking?!" Thomas cried out in shock.

"No... It was just a blank shot... to get our attention... well then Captain of the Night Fury, we will give you our attention." Eric said and gave the binocular back to Thomas. "Ready the ships!" Eric then shouted, and every soldier on the port began to move. Eric was just about to walk towards the harbour on the island but stopped. "Keep an eye on them, if they do something else."

"Yes sir." Thomas said and saluted him.

Dagur growled there he stood on the dinghy craning his neck to see the captain. It didn't take long before they let down their longboat.

"Well, look what we got here." The captain said there he stood at the railing of the big ship. "One of the crew members of the Nightmare Dragon... say... where's your captain?" he asked, but he only got a grunt in reply. Dagur was moved from the dinghy on board the ship, where his hands got cuffed behind his back.

"Sir, this was on the ship." One of the men said and held out the bottle. The captain looked at it; Thomas took the bottle and took out the piece of paper.

"Sir... it's a letter, addressed to you." Thomas held out the letter for Eric. "What about the Night Fury sir?" Eric was reading the letter and only cast a look up towards the pirate ship, before he looked down at the letter again.

"Let them run, they are already too far ahead for us to catch up with them." Eric put the letter inside his pocket before he turned to his men. "The Nightmare Dragon is no more!" he called out "The only ones still alive from that crew is Dagur Deranged." Eric pointed at Dagur who glared right back "Eret son of Eret and Jack Frost, who is currently members of the Night Fury, send word to the head quarters in Corona, from what I've heard they already have the other dragon crew in their hands."

"Go! I will hold them back!" Astrid shouted. The Bewilderbeast was about to turn around to help her against the marines, Astrid was having none of that, she shouted out again making the ship stop turning. "GO! JACK NEEDS YOU! I CAN HANDLE THIS, DON'T WORRY! GO! BRING AND END TO THIS AND GET JACK BACK!" and with that she turned back to her crew, she turned her ship around slowly so that it was facing the marines with her side, taking up the entire fjord's space.  
Astrid raised her arm and ordered her crew to ready the cannons. "Ready!" she shouted "Fire!" the exploding and whistling sound from fired cannonballs and canons took over from both ships. The canons run hot on both ships, but the marines advanced, having more men and gunpowder than the Deadly Nadder.

"Come on girl, you can handle this." Astrid said. Stormfly squawked there she sat on Astrid's shoulder.

"Astrid!" Mulan and Mu-Shu came running, stopping at the stairs. "We're running out of cannonballs."

"What?!" Astrid shouted. "That can't be!" the Deadly Nader jerked under them, and Astrid saw how one of the masts was shot of, it began to fall. Astrid gaped, before she looked in the direction The Bewilderbeast had gone, it was barely visible in the horizon. Astrid have away a sigh and looked back at Mulan and Mu-Shu. "How many do we have left?"

"20 at most." Mulan said.

"And in this pace we won't have any left in ten minutes." Mu-Shu said. The Deadly Nadder shook again as another cannonball from the marines got a lucky strike, on the rudder this time.

"It pains me to say this..." Astrid said, but she was cut off by a cannonball hitting the upper deck far too close to her, she screamed and was thrown down the stairs. She got to her feet gripping her arm that was getting red from blood. Mulan and Mu-Shu had worried looks on their face. "Take out the white flag, Hiccup has got enough time."

"But Astrid..."

"No buts! I want a ship that can be fixed when this is over!" she spat.

"Yes Captain." Mulan said. Mu-Shu had already gotten the white flag and bound it to a broom.

"Hold your fire!" Astrid shouted to her crew, as Mu-Shu raised the broom wafting it left and forth.

"They have given up sire." One of the marines said to Hans, who was grinding his teeth.

"This is fine, they work just as fine." He growled out, even if it was Hiccup and the Night Fury crew he wanted.

The Marine ship floated towards the biggest city on the seas, where the headquarters for the marines were, Corona. The Deadly Nadder was dragged behind the ship with thick ropes. While the crew was put to sit on the deck, guarded by a group of marines. Lunar was taking care of Astrid's wounded arm, she kept her eyes on the marines; Stormfly sat on her knee for the time being.

"I hope Hiccup's alright..." she sighed.

"The child will be alright; after all they have the power of love." Jane said and smiled.

"We have to believe in them." Lunar said and smiled.

"You know Hiccup, he isn't someone known for giving up what he love." Heather said and chuckled. Sanderson made some fast gestures with his hands.

"That's right Sanderson." Maximus said "He have his crew to back him up also."

"And they only get more people to join." Mu-Shu said and laughed.

"Silence!" one of the marines spat. Mu-Shu frowned before he looked at Maximus.

"We're you like that to?" he asked, Maximus cast him a disgusted look.

"No. I was like a bloodhound on a hunt."

"I said silence!" the same marine shouted again.

"Right right..." Mu-Shu grunted.

Hans walked to the railing, before he walked on the gangplank fastened to both ships and walked up to Astrid.

"Where's Hiccup going?" he asked "You're his girlfriend are you not?" Astrid smirked and laughed.

"I'm a _girl_ and I'm his _friend_." She said "Now tell me **Hans**." something in her blue eyes changed "Why are you so caught up in catching him?" Hans growled at her.

"He took something from me. And by catching him, and making him hang by the neck for his crimes, I will get it back." Hans then smirked "And I just got the best plan in how to lore him into my grasp." Astrid searched his face, and felt unease grow in her stomach. "After all, he care about his friends doesn't he? And I believe he will come to the rescue if they are to be lynched." He said the last word with so much power and in such a cold tone that Astrid felt her neck hair stand on end.

"He won't let you do that." She breathed out, trying to keep her fear hidden.


	42. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

The Bewilderbeast floated calmly over the still ocean, Hiccup stood at the helm just relaxing in the sun, he had visited Jack earlier; the dark circles that had hung under the teens eyes were long gone, Jack hadn't woken up again after he'd drunken the healing tea, but Rapunzel hadn't been to worried, his body was just getting back the rest and sleep Pitch had kept him from she'd say and smile.

Small deserted islands filled the waters, and the water was so clear that you could almost see the ocean floor; fishes in all sizes swam down there.

"Look whales!" Rapunzel laughed and pointed to their left, a big group of whales swam in the water, jumping up in the air and splashing up a cascade of water when they landed in the water again. Eret looked at them and smiled. The whales swam closer to the ship and one broke the surface just next to them. Toothless gave away a happy sound and Pascal who stood on the railing grinned and Pig who stood next to Toothless looking between the railings planks jumped on the spot. Then Merida saw a small ship gong towards them, the whales swam away in another direction, but the ship moved closer.

"Trader Johann!" Merida called out and climbed down from the crow's nest she ran up to the railing "Its trader Johann!" she called to the rest.

"Trader... who?" Tadashi, Hiro and Tip asked in confusion.

"He's a trader; he trades things with both pirates and Marines, but also news from around the world." Eret said.

"Did Drago do trading with him?" Eugene asked Eret shook his head.

"Hardly ever... Drago took what he wanted trades were not in his interest, trader Johann stayed away the best he could most of the time..." the crew walked up to the railing to greet the trader.

"Yoho!" Trader Johann called and waved at them. "I see you got a new ship Hiccup." The man said as Nicholas threw down a rope that was bound to the railing; Trader Johann bound the other end to the vessel of his ship, so that the two ships could stay side by side. Nicholas then threw down the rope ladder.

"Got anything new?" Eugene asked.

"Indeed I do young man, indeed I do." The brown bearded man smiled. "I got things from all over the world."

"Got any medical herbs?" Rapunzel asked and smiled.

"Yes, I actually got the herb you asked for last time we met, and oh my you suit in short hair my lady." Trader Johann began to dig thru the boxes and belongings on the ship, before he took out a small bouquet of dried flowers. "It wasn't easy to get them I tell you." Rapunzel were the first to climb down the ladder, she studied the bouquet and smiled.

"And what would you have for this?" she asked. Trader Johann thought for a moment.

"Do you still have some of that paste you gave me last time?" Rapunzel smiled and nodded. "Then that will do." Rapunzel took the bouquet and looked up to the ship.

"Eret! Could you be so kind to go into the Doctor's office and get me a small brown jar?"

"Which type of small are we talking about?" he asked leaning over the railing. Trader Johann gave away a surprised sound.

"About this size." Rapunzel showed with her hands. The former slave nodded and disappeared from sight.

"Care to tell this trader why you have a member of the Nightmare Dragon on your ship?"

"He's a member of my crew now." Hiccup said. "Also the Nightmare Dragon is no more."

"So you defeated the Nightmare Dragon? Oh boy..." Trader Johann massaged his head as he sighed.

"Rapunzel, is this the one?" Eret appeared again with a brown jar in his hand. Rapunzel nodded.

"Drop it, I can catch it." She said, Eret hesitated for a moment before he let the jar fall from his fingers, Rapunzel caught it with one hand and gave him a slight salute, before she turned back to Trader Johann and gave him the jar.

The other crew members began to trade with him as well, Merida found a new sword that she fell for, Hiro found some stuff that he knew he could use in the future.

"Trader Johann, any news to share?" Nicholas asked, when everyone was done trading and back on the ship.

"I got news from every corner of the world, the one most spoke for the moment is the rumour that the marines caught a group of pirates that are to be hanged at the summer solstice at the Marine headquarters in Corona as an 'example'."

"Why would they wait so long to hang 'em? They usually hang 'em the next day..." Aster grunted. "Just which crew are we talking about 'ere?"

"From what I've heard..." Trader Johann started "So is the pirate crew that was caught one of the dragon ships, but those are just the rumours, I know the truth told from the mouth of the marines themselves." He looked up at Hiccup. "I got bad news for you captain; but your girlfriend, have gotten herself and her crew caught."

"Astrid? You mean the marines caught the Deadly Nadder?!" Hiro called out in fear.

"Yes, that was the name of the ship!" Trader Johann said as he unbound the rope from his ship. "She was a fine lass." He let go of the rope and with the rope no longer dragging the smaller boat along the distance grew fast between the two vessels. "May our paths cross again! Have a safe journey!" Trader Johan called before he returned to his sailing.

Rapunzel cast a look towards Hiccup, he was gripping the railing so hard that his fist had turned white and his gaze was dark.

"Hiccup..." she started.

"Set course for Corona." Hiccup said as he began to walk towards the helm.

"Hiccup please!" Rapunzel called out. "What are we going to do!? It's the headquarters of the marines! They won't just let us walk in there and free the Deadly Nadder."

"We can't just stay here and do nothing!" Hiccup said turning round on the stairs. "She's my friend Rapunzel."

"Hey! She's our friend too Hiccup!" Merida said "I know you're angry and worried, but we got to keep our heads." Merida gestured for him to calm down.

"We need plan." Nicholas said. "Going in head first will only end badly." Hiccup sighed tiredly, as he turned the ship towards Corona.

"How far too Corona, and how long till the Summer Solstice?" he asked.

"The solstice is in four weeks, and it will take three to get to Corona..." Rapunzel said slowly. "If we're luckily and the winds on our side, we might get there in two and a half..."

Pain...  
Everything hurt but he was far too tired to move.  
The razor sharp boa still clung to him with its death grip, making it hard to breath.  
The darkness was back but it wasn't scary anymore.  
Not evil  
Just dark and...  
Everything was cold  
so, so cold.  
Cold as death...  
He didn't hear anything but the painful beating of his heart and the wheezing sound of his breathing.  
Memories sometimes flashed by  
Bringing fear and more pain.  
Why did everything hurt so much?  
What was it that had started this pain?  
He couldn't remember, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to know or not.  
The boa hissed and squeezed harder around him.  
Making his gape for air.  
Before it released its hold to some extent.  
Faint warmth suddenly began to spread from the inside.  
Warming up his cold and tired limbs that still felt like lead.  
If he had the energy to smile he would be doing it.  
The cold seemed to retreat, but it didn't take long before it slowly began to creep back.  
He wasn't sure about it but the boa still held him close and the cold grew between the moments.  
He still didn't hear anything, expect faint sound that he wasn't sure was just his mind or if they were real.  
Sometimes the sounds were loud other times they were faint and you would miss them if you wasn't ready for them to come.  
He was starting to get used to this type of life...  
Neither Alive nor Dead.  
Just existing.  
In this black void that was left of his shattered and torn mind.  
Few pieces were untouched.  
Most disoriented and in a jeopardy.  
All due to Pitch's rule.  
He wasn't even sure what was up anymore.  
Then something soft and sweet suddenly started to embrace him, and a golden glow creating tendrils like the roots on a flower began to light up the darkness.  
The roots reached for his memories putting them back in order.  
Reaching for the boa; who hugged around him tighter and hissed angrily.  
He couldn't breathe.  
Oh by the moon!  
HE COULDN'T BREATH!  
He wanted to scream.  
But only choked sounds left him.  
The boa was torn from him and pain flared up where it had been.  
The golden roots reached for him.  
Fear flared up in him and he began to fight them off.  
Stay away!  
He didn't want to be killed by roots now when the boa was gone.  
He didn't notice the cold that grew around him, nor how everything seemed too bleak.  
 _Don't give up..._  
A voice echoed around him.  
He stopped in his movements to just stare.  
It was the first and clearest the sounds have ever been.  
The roots reached for him again and as if to soothe they began to caress him.  
Where they touched warmth; a safe and calming warmth spread from their touch.  
 _Not now... Not like this...  
_ The voice spoke again.  
He felt strangely calm; he closed his eyes and let the roots do their job.  
They surrounded him and created a cocoon like structure around him.  
 _Please, come back...  
_ The voice had grown pleading.  
He frowned slightly  
 _Jack, I want you back..._  
His frown deepened and his fingers jerked for a moment.  
Slowly he blinked his eyes open, to be meted by a blur.  
A figure was leaning over him.  
 _Hey...  
_ The voice said; same voice.  
He blinked slowly, his voice not wanting to listen to him.  
Before he grew so, so tired.  
He closed his eyes again.  
And he fell asleep.  
This time not into the cold and dark.  
But in warmth and golden light and a strong safe feeling.  
He slept deeply as the roots continued to heal his mind.  
Change the manipulated memories back to their original form.  
And put everything back to how it had been before Pitch came and invaded the place.

The sound of waves reached his ears, along with the cries of seagulls and creaks and groans of wood. The sun shown in thru the small window, giving everything in the room a warm yellow hue. Dust danced in the sunlight. Jack slept on his stomach, one arm hanging over the edge of the bed, the other lying in an awkward angle under him the blanket was tangled around his legs, his eyebrows knitted and his fingers jerked in a small movement. His eyes moved under his eyelids and it was clear he was dreaming, and by the frown on the teens face it was clear that it wasn't a happy dream. His frown deepened and he mumbled something under his breath. He trashed for a moment, before he bolted into a sitting position with a loud gasp for air. A tear fell from his cheek and he blinked rubbing at his eyes before he stiffened and looked around.

He didn't recognize this room... but he knew by the look of things that he wasn't on the Nightmare Dragon he studied the room. Dried and drying herbs hung in the roof a chest stood in the far corner and a hammock was hanging with both ends on one of its hinges to not take up all the space in the room. Jack also found jars and vessels on the shelves along the wall.  
Muffled voices entered thru the closed door, Jack couldn't make out what they said nor who it was that spoke.

Jack threw the blanket of him and then stood up, or that was what he had planed his legs buckled under him and he collapsed to the floor, blinking in confusion and surprise. His legs were stuck in awkward angles under him and he pushed himself up to the bed again and tried to untangle his legs from each other. He looked at his feet before he tried to stand again, slower this time; his legs trembled under the effort. By not being used for so long they had lost some of their strength.  
Jack let go of the bed and swayed there he stood, before he slowly began to shuffle his way towards the door. He stopped in front of it, hesitating. What would he find on the other side? Who was he to meet? He had absolutely no idea where he was at the moment, and that made him worry, last thing he remembered were to see how Toothless collapsed under Pitch hypnotism and then having Hiccup shout at him and Nicholas lying dead on the ground... dead... by his hands. Jack took a shaky breath and slowly and silently opened the door and peered outside. The suns light were bright and he hissed in pain at the sudden sticking pain in his eyes, but he soon got used to the brightness and he saw the ship he was on, he recognized it and some of the worry left him but got changed to anxiety. If he was on the Bewilderbeast... that meant he would have to face Hiccup again... Jack closed the door shut as silently as he had opened it back backed away from it moving his hands to his head.  
There was no way he would be able to face Hiccup after all this! What was he going to do? He started to pace as panic grew inside. He swallowed hard and sank down on the bed again. There was no way Hiccup would be able to look at him after what he'd done... He had killed Nicholas!

Jack looked to the door. Maybe if he left the ship, no they were out at sea and he had no idea where, he'd starve or die from thirst before he even got to land. He rubbed his hands over his face and groaned. He got up to his feet again and walked over towards the door.

"Better get this over with..." he mumbled to himself and took a deep breath, he opened the door more this time, the sunlight blinded him again and he moved one hand to shield his eyes from the bright star.

"Jack!" a female voice suddenly called out, Jack turned his head to find Rapunzel sitting in front of Merida who held a knife in her hand and was currently cutting Rapunzel hair into a more even look, getting each hair to a similar length. "I'm glad to see you're finally awake." Rapunzel beamed at him and smiled big. How could she still smile at him after what he'd done? He gave her a stiff nod in reply, not sure if his voice would be steady or not. He closed the door behind him and looked around. Hiccup stood at the helm glaring of into the horizon.

"Jack." Another voice said, and Jack spun around on his heels to find himself facing Eret.

"Eret?!" he gaped; he hadn't expected to find the man onboard this ship. "Wha- what are you doing here?"

"Well with the Nightmare Dragon gone, both Pitch, Gothel and Drago dead, Dagur thrown to the marines I didn't really have anywhere to go... so Hiccup let me stay."

"Wait... dead?" Jack looked so confused that Eret smiled a bit.

"Don't worry about it, Jack. Everything is fine." Jack looked at him, before he lowered his head.

"No it's not... I... I got blood on my hands..." he mumbled out. Eret's smile faltered and he sighed tiredly.

The door to the galley opened and Aster and Nicholas walked out. Nicholas blinked when he saw Jack before a big smile grew on his lips.

"Ah, I see you finally awake, Jack." He said. And you could see how the teen jolted, he turned around to face them slowly, he stared at Nicholas with wide eyes and a face that made it look like he'd just seen a ghost, he took a stiff step back. Aster noticed the fear on the teens face and patted Nicholas on the shoulder.

"Remember, Nick, last time he saw ya, ye were _dead_." Aster hissed "Killed by 'is own hands." Something solemnly fell over Nicholas face and he sighed.

"Seems I have to calm my son down." The chef said and looked at Aster.

"Just take it easy, ye have no idea what's going on in 'is head." Nicholas patted the Pooka on the back before he moved towards Jack.

Jack stared at Nicholas, panic and fear burning inside of him, how could the man be here? He was dead, he had killed him! He must have gone mad!

"Jack." Nicholas said moving towards him. Jack backed away.

"No- No you can't be real..." Jack stuttered out.

"Jack... son." Nicholas said. Jack cringed at the word 'son' he moved his hands to cover his ears as he forced his eyes shut. This got to be a bad dream, that was what he tried to tell himself, but he flinched when he felt the wall; to the doctor's office and Asters workshop against his back it felt very real. "Jack." Nicholas said again.

"I KILLED YOU! THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN BE ALIVE-!" Jack shouted his voice breaking at the end, Nicholas stopped in his tracks to just stare at the teen. Jack opened his eyes slowly to look up at Nicholas. "I killed you..." he said in a broken voice trying to fight back the tears that was blurring his vision. "It's my fault-" he gave away a choked sound when Nicholas hugged around him, the older man stood on his knees holding the teen close.

"No Jack..." Nicholas said. "It is not your fault, Pitch is to blame, and he has gotten what he deserves." Jack felt the warmth, heard the heartbeat and knew that this wasn't a dream. Nicholas was alive. Jack gave away a whine before he hit his face in Nicholas shoulder and hugged around the man for dear life, as he let the tears free. He was letting the gates open for the tears to stream free. Nicholas smiled and stoked Jack on the back holding him close. "There, there, son, let it all out."

It took a while before Jack calmed enough to only sniffles and hiccups. He let go of Nicholas lifting his head to look at the older man, Nicholas smiled down at him, and Jack gave him a week smile back.

"Well then, why don't I make big dinner, I believe you must be hungry." Nicholas said and laughed. Jack's smile grew bigger and he gave away a laugh, before his eyes fell on Hiccup who still stood at the helm glaring at the horizon.

"What's wrong with Hiccup..?" Jack asked slowly. Nicholas cast a look back to the captain and sighed.

"'e found out tha' the Deadly Nadder has been caught by the marines, and the crew are to be hanged at the summer solstice, in three weeks, Hans caught them." Aster said there he stood looking up at a bunch of seagulls that flew over the ship. Jack let go of Nicholas completely.

"Aster." He said and walked up to the Pooka. "I-... uh... I'm sorry." Aster looked down at him raising an eyebrow in question.

"Sorry?" he asked.

"Well... I... uh." Jack scratched the back of his neck "I'm sorry for everything and for the whole, you know the "kangaroo" thing..." Aster snorted before he burst out laughing, Jack blinked in surprise and flinched a step back; he hadn't expected that reaction. Aster placed his hand on Jack's shoulder.

"Now listen 'ere mate, I'm not angry about tha' Kangaroo thing, its ma accent isn't it?" Jack chuckled at that. Giving the Pooka a crooked smile, Aster then grew serious as he poked Jack in the chest. "The reason..." Aster grew silent his eyes faltering a bit and he sighed. Jack gave him a worried look.

"Aster..?" The Pooka looked at Jack again before he looked up to Nicholas who gave him a smile and with one hand gestured for him to continue.

"Well..." Aster let go of Jack's shoulder pulling his hand over his face. "How do I say this?" he mumbled to himself. He looked at Jack again, the teen gave him an unsure smile and Aster could see he was worried. "Ye... remind me of ma sister..." Aster then said taking both of Jack's shoulders and giving him a light shake. "So much that I can see 'er in ya, and I just don't know how to handle tha'" Aster said.

"Pookahontas?" Jack asked Aster gave him a nod.

"Ay, Pookahontas." Jack smiled a bit, leaning his head to the side.

"Why?" Jack gave him a searching look. "What kind of person was she?"

"Oh... she was one of nature's children Jack; wild as the sea, and free as the wind." Aster's eyes lit up while he talked about her he spoke with the pride only big brother could have. Aster walked around on deck as he talked before he stopped with his back turned to Jack.

"Not bad..." Jack said and smiled, Aster turned around and a big grin grew on his lips.

"Not bad yerself, kid."


	43. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

Jack stood at the railing, listening to Rapunzel as she and Merida filled him in on what happened after he'd been taken, Eret filled in what happened on the Nightmare Dragon and to the ship, Jack just stared at him when he told him what he'd done to the ship and snorted when Eret told him about Dagur. As they talked he couldn't help but to look towards Hiccup, the captain had barely even cast him an eye. Toothless walked around the captain trying to get a reaction from him, but Hiccup just brushed him of, and the panther grunted and joined Pig to lounge on the deck in the warmth of the sun. Jack couldn't help but to wonder... and the anxiety that had grown when he first woke up was growing in his stomach again, did Hiccup still love him? He lowered his head and cast his eyes to the deck, unease and over thinking getting into the mixture as well.  
Rapunzel noticed his sudden mood change; she cast a look to Hiccup and sighed in annoyance. She knew better than anyone how much Hiccup cared for and loved Jack, but by the way he was acting now... it was clear he needed a swat on the head. From what Jack told them the last he remembered were just... Hiccup shouting at him after Nicholas had been "killed" he had vague and blurry memories of being saved and having the mind control broken. If Hiccup didn't say anything to him soon, there was a great chance Jack was gonna give up on him and fall to the belief that Hiccup no longer cared for him like had had before The Nightmare Dragon had shown its self again.

The day was late and Jack: still gaining back his strength after being in his coma like state for a week, and then sleeping for five more days before his body deemed him okay enough to wake, had gone to bed again, in the doctor's office. Nicholas had told the truth about making a big dinner and Jack ate much more then he usually did, but Nicholas didn't take that as a bad thing, the teen did need to gain some weight after all; he had always been far too thin for his own well being.

Hiccup had eaten, but he had eaten in silence not relay looking at anyone before he left for the helm again, making Rapunzel grunt and hit her hands against the table as she glared after him, growing more annoyed by Hiccup's actions.

Rapunzel stood up from the table and helped Nicholas get the dishes, Eret helped as well, the rest did the daily routine they always did before going to sleep, cheeking the ropes, and making sure everything was in order.

She left the galley when the table was free from the dinner, only some small knick-knacks lied left on the table, most belonged to Hiro and Aster, some to Merida and a book that was Rapunzel's that she was letting Tip read in a way of learning more about flowers and their special abilities that could help in healing or taking care of a wound or kill a man in seconds. To know how to heal, you also needed to know how to kill. Rapunzel wasn't much for fighting, but she had alone escaped and taken over a marine ship with just some of the Datura that she managed to sneak into the food for the crew, making them all hallucinate so badly that the managed to lock them up in the cells onboard the ship and keep it still until the Night Fury caught up, she became known to both marines and pirates as the gardener from hell, they always had a way of being overdramatic.

Rapunzel looked around and found Hiccup just where she thought she would, at the helm. He was staring out at the horizon.

"If I didn't know better." she said loud and clear as she walked up the stairs to the upper deck, not looking away from Hiccup, the captain cast here a look before he looked back to the ocean, but she knew she had is attention. She leaned against the railing next to the helm arms crossed over her chest and a serious glare in her eyes as she scanned Hiccup's face for any emotion he might show. "You know Jack's awake, and by the way you're acting I'm starting to question where your mind is." She poked him hard between the brows, making him frown and take a step back.

"What are you implying?" Hiccup said; the first thing he had said for a long time because his voice was a bit hoarse.

"I'd say you're avoiding _him_." she said dead serious.

"I'm not!" Hiccup bellowed in annoyance.

"Then why haven't you talked to him? You haven't even looked at him as far as I know!" Rapunzel spat back. "Hiccup listen to me, the last thing he remembers clearly are the moments after Nicholas was killed, when you shoved him away and rejected him." Hiccup flinched and he looked away. "If you keep acting like this... you **will** lose him." Rapunzel said.

"How do you know he still cares about me? You said it yourself... I shoved him away and rejected him, I abounded him when he needed me the most."

"If so..." she said slowly taking Hiccup's face in her hands. "Isn't it better to know that the feelings are gone, than go and fade by not knowing?" she looked into his green eyes, and he looked back to hers seeing the brown that swirled around the iris closest to her pupils, he gave her a silent nod to show he understood what she meant.

The seagulls shouted and screamed in the air at the port, purple flags with a golden sun and flags with a circle and a crown fluttered in the wind on top of the headquarters of the marines the building big and massive, the stone wall that faced the ocean was painted white from the salt of the ocean, and sharp rocks filled the waters, making any escape to the sea fruitless when the lowest windows were several meters above ground. The marine ships stood tall and mighty at the marine dock, among all these ships you could hear a blue and yellow parrot cry out now and then there it sat on the main mast of a blue ship with yellow and red spots covering it yellow sails that was gathered to not catch wind, in the front the figurehead was that of a roaring dragon, a Deadly Nadder to be precise, the spikes on the head moved down its neck and pointed forward along the edge of the railing growing smaller and duller until the railing became smooth again. The ship had big holes made from canons covering the hull, and the mast in the front that had been shot clean of but been left hanging in the ropes of the other masts had been fixed back in place by someone, the entire ship had gotten somewhat fixed.

Hans stood at one of the windows eyeing the pirate ship.

"Sir why did we bring that ship along?" one of his men asked. Hans looked at him.

"It's a fine ship, when repaired and remodelled she will be a _finer_ ship for the marines, hunting the very sort she was built for." He sneered, before he raised his gun and pointed it at the parrot who called out again in sorrow, he fired, completely missing the bird, but scaring it enough that it lifted and flew away. "Stupid bird." He muttered hoisting his weapon again. "Say Phoebus... how is my catch doing?" he turned to the other man, blond hair and a beard covered chin, blue eyes and broad shoulders. The man lowered his head in a slight bow before he spoke

"Expect for grumbling and throwing curses as they please they are fine, sir, unless you want them to wail like the others." the man said Hans laughed and began to walk towards the chambers were the prisoners was held; pirates, thieves, murderer, assassins, wanted men and women and many more.

All, going to hang by the neck until dead; without any knowing of when their time was up. Making most of the prisoners unreasonable and begging for any kind of escape, some even begged for the gallows and to get it over with. Only the crew of the Deadly Nadder knew which date their time was up.

Astrid sat on the floor leaning against the stone wall, she had rolled her black coat to a pillow and had one of the arms, she had her arms crossed over her chest; the good one holding the elbow of the wounded one; bandage was visible under her blue shirt where the tear in the fabric was. She had her legs crossed over them and rested as much as she could for the moment, as she schemed on how to get her and her crew out, before the solstice. Jane sat and played noughts and crosses with Sanderson. Lunar the oldest one of the crew sat resting against the other edge of the wall. Maximus stood at the window glaring outside, while Mu-Shu, Heather and Mulan talked among themselves.

The prisoners in the cell behind theirs tried to win the affection of the key dog who guarded the keys, but the brown and beige saint Bernard just lifted its head there it lied and gruffed at them and lied down again turning an blind eye and deaf ear to them.

"That won't work." Maximus finally said, growing tired of their rattle.

"Well unlike you we don't want to die!" one of the men said harshly.

"The key dog is specially trained to not come when being called." The ex-marine said. "Trust me; I've trained some of them to not listen."

"You?" there was humour in their voices "A Pirate?"

"Marine." Astrid stated as a matter of fact from there she was opening one eye to look at them. "Turned X, All credit to me." She grinned and something lit her eyes, that Maximus only seen once before. When she saved him after the ship he'd been on attacked them but lost. He still didn't understand why she had helped him... but she had her strange reasons, and Being a close friend with Hiccup he knew that the two, the only people of berk who had taken to piracy were both alike but at the same time, so unlike each other it was a strange happening of events that made them become so close.

A loud rattle was heard as the door to freedom was opened and the Commander walked down the stairs followed by one of the guards. Maximus gave away a growl when he saw him.

Hans patted the dog on the head.

"Good job Nana." He said then rose up to walk up to the cell where the crew of the Deadly Nadder was kept. "I see you have gotten comfortable." He said and sneered.

"And _I_ see you got yourself down to your own level at last, **Hans**." Astrid said not moving from her position except giving him a wave with her foot and sneered back. Hans glared back at her.

"And what are you _implying_?" he spat the last word as if it was poisoning his tongue. Astrid gave him a knowing look.

"You know well enough Hans, after all mutineers is a crime all of its own just as much among Pirates as Marines; why did they let _you_ in to the higher ranks I wonder?" Astrid was sitting up leaning forward a dangerous look in her eyes and a satisfied look on her face. "After all you were once-" she was cut off by Hans firing his gun; the bullet hit the wall right beside Astrid's head.

"Don't make me kill you, _woman_ , not before your **dear** boyfriend get's here so I can take his head." Hans spat glaring at her and left.  
Silence filled the chambers the moment the gun was fired and it was silent after the door was closed with a loud bam. Astrid looked just as calm as before but burst out laughing when the door closed.

"His _true colours_ will never change." She said all humour gone from her voice as she leaned back making herself comfortable once again as the other prisoner's starts to try and get the dog to them again.

The sun was high in the sky, and the Bewilderbeast moved fast over the waters thanks to the wind. Jack stood at the railing watching the water move under the ship as it moved towards its destination.  
Merida sat fixing more arrows; Nicholas sat and peeled potatoes in the sun, he enjoyed the warmth; Aster sat next to him with Hiro both working on new devices that would maybe come in handy.  
Toothless lied on his side snoozing in the sun; with Pig nuzzling at his chest and Pascal lying at their heads, Eret and Tip was holding fishing rods in their hands as they tried to catch some fish for Nicholas.

Hiccup stood at the helm arms resting against the wheel as he moved the carved ring between his fingers. He sighed and cast a look towards Jack, the teen stood with his back to him, arms crossed over the railing. Hiccup sighed and put the ring back inside the pocket of his coat. He looked back to Jack who hadn't moved. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned his head to find Rapunzel standing there.

"I can watch the helm." She said and he knew what she meant. He sighed and looked back to Jack before he looked to Rapunzel again.

"What if he doesn't care anymore?" he asked slowly.

"Better to know it, than risk it." Rapunzel said and jabbed him in the chest with her finger. "Now go and show him you love him." Hiccup rubbed the place where she had poked him, before he sighed.

"Right, right." he mumbled out and walked towards the stairs as he began to walk down them he began to whistle, his and Jack's song. He noticed how Jack went rigid there he stood.

"Oh I love this one." Nicholas said and paused with the pealing of potatoes.


	44. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

Jack looked down at the water, seeing fishes swim along the ship for a moment before they disappeared into the depths; he lifted his eyes towards the horizon, seeing some small islands further up ahead, in a bluish hue. Te sound of whistling on a tune he never thought he'd ever hear again, made him startled and rigid, but he found himself fighting against the voice that told him to turn around, he wasn't sure he could face Hiccup after what he'd done, even if Nicholas was alive and well.

"I'll swim and sail on savage seas..." Hiccup began to sing and Jack clenched his fists on the railing; forcing himself to keep his eyes on the water. "With ne'er a fear of drowning..." Hiccup moved from the stair towards Jack. "And gladly ride the winds of life... if you will marry me." Jack didn't turn and Hiccup's smile that had been on his lips faltered for a bit before he continued "No scorching sun or freezing cold will-" Nicholas voice boomed over them.

"Will stop me on my jour...ney..." Aster swatted him on the chest and Hiccup gave him a glare "Sorry..." Hiccup cast one last glare at the older man before he looked back to Jack

"If you will promise me your heart... and love..." Jack hadn't turned at all and Hiccup sighed he was too late, he made himself ready to walk back to the helm noticing how Rapunzel gave him an sad look

"...and love me for eternity..." Jack's voice was faint and uncertain as he turned slowly from the railing to face Hiccup, he had his eyes cast down to the railing before he brought all the bravery he had and looked at the captain who was beaming, love filling his eyes and a big smile on his lips showing all his teeth. Jack felt his heart tumble and he gave away a laugh before he walked away from the railing. "My dearest one my darling dear, your mighty words astound me..." Jack had more strength behind his words this time and he laughed tears prickling in the corners of his eyes. "But I no need for mighty deeds when I feel you arms around me." He laughed Hiccup was grinning as he took Jack's hands and they joined in the dance.

"But I will bring you rings of gold and even sing you poetry, and I will keep you from all harm if you will stay beside me." Hiccup sang as he made Jack spin, taking both his hands and they swayed left to right.

"I have no use for rings of gold, I care not for you poetry." Jack laughed "I only want your hand to hold-" Once again Hiccup cut him off but Jack only smiled at that

"I only want you near me!" they then began to sing in union.

"To love and kiss to sweetly hold, for the dancing and the dreaming, through all life's sorrows and delights I'll keep your laugh inside me~" Eret smiled big there he stood rod almost forgotten. "I'll swim and sail on savage seas with ne'er a fear of drowning and gladly ride the winds of life if you will marry me!" a third voice chimed in and Nicholas stood up hand on his chest as he was still singing. Pig's fur fuzzed and the cat mewled in pain, Toothless on the other hand pawed at his ears wishing for them to fall off. Aster swatted Nicholas on the chest again.

"I'M Stiiiiillllll goooooooooooooiiiiiing!" he sang. Aster elbowed him hard in the side. "I'm done." Nicholas fell silent to everyone's relief. Hiccup and Jack stood in the middle of the deck laughing a bit out of breath.

"I thought I lost you." Hiccup said caressing Jack's cheek with his hand; Jack leaned into the touch closing his eyes and smiled. They stood like that for a while before Hiccup moved his hand to hold both of Jack's hands in his, before he sank down on one knee in front of the teen. Jack stared at him

"Hiccup?" he managed to ask in surprise. Hiccup smiled at him and took out the carved ring from his pocket.

"It's not much." He said Jack stared at the ring "Will you marry me?" Jack's eyes flashed from the ring to Hiccup's face. He opened and closed his mouth several times unable to find his voice. A blush had coloured his face bright red and he was still trying to get his mind to understand that he needed to say something! A smile then grew on Jack's lips as his mind caught up with the moment. And he gave away a laugh hugging around Hiccup.

"Yes!" he laughed out crying from happiness. "Yes, yes, yes!" Hiccup laughed and they heard Nicholas and the others cheer. Jack let go of Hiccup leaning back to be able to look at him. Hiccup took his hand and put the ring where it belonged and it suited. Jack looked at the ring now able to see all the details better, before he grabbed the collar of Hiccup's coat and kissed him hard on the lips. He got a surprised sound form the captain before he just smiled and kissed back.

"Ay, get a room." Aster said humour filling his voice as Hiro was sitting with his hands covering his eyes a blush so bright it seemed to glow on his face. Nicholas got to his feet.

"Tonight we feast!" he bellowed in a laugh.

Astrid heard the drums and the voice of someone reading all the crimes; the one that were getting hanged at the moment had done. Then she heard the rattle of chains and the sound of ropes straining Mu-Shu and Heather flinched at the sound, they were still young, but the cruel eye of the marines a pirate was a pirate no mater his or hers age.

"Do you think they will come?" Heather asked after a while, her voice trembling from the fact that the drums had started again and so had the speech. "What if The Nightmare Dragon got them, they could already be dead by now."

"Don't talk like that child." Lunar said "We got to believe in our friends." The old man smiled "They will be here, rest assure."

"How can you be so sure?" Mu-Shu asked.

"A bird whispered in my ear." Lunar said as Stormfly landed at the window giving away a squawk, she could fit her head thru the bars but no further.

"Hey girl." Astrid said looking up at the parrot getting a happy sound in return.

"How long till... you know?" Mu-Shu asked. Sanderson began to gesture in his signal language and Maximus translated

"A week and a half." He said.

"I don't mean to seem bold." Heather said looking at Astrid; their relationship had gone from horrible to better, so the young girl was still cautious to not step wrong and end back on bad terms with her captain.

"What is it Heather?" Astrid asked not opening her eyes.

"What did you mean with Hans being a mutineer?" Astrid opened one eye to look at her.

"It's an old and long story." The captain said. "Nothing fun in it."

"Well; we don't really have anything better to do, now do we?" Heather said gesturing to the cell. A chuckle left Astrid's lips and she smiled she looked every member of her crew over, Lunar and Sanderson already knew the truth they just gave her a nod to tell the others.

"Alright, fine, but you all better listen" she said raising one finger "Because I will not tell you twice."

Stars filled the sky and the ocean lay calm and still around the ship reflecting the night sky, just like a mirror. Jack sat on the railing at the front of the ship studying at the ring Hiccup had given him in the pale moonlight. He heard the door to the galley open the laughter from inside was heard for a moment before it was shut up by the close of the door, he heard Hiccup's steps; the clank of his peg against the deck was unmistakable. Jack turned to look at him as Hiccup walked up to him.

"What's troubling you?" Hiccup asked.

"Who's Hans?" Jack asked getting down from the railing. "And why does he hate you so much?" Hiccup sighed "Hiccup?"

"It's an old and long story Jack, nothing fun in it."

"Please Hiccup." The captain looked at Jack stroking some of his white hair from his face, it seemed to glow in the moonlight, and his eyes glittered in the light of the stars.

"You will not like it." Hiccup said giving Jack a serious look. "Trust me on that."

"Still... I want to know." Jack said giving him a pleading look. Hiccup sighed in defeat

"Fine, but it's not a happy story, trust me."

"Hiccup." Jack said, and the brunette sighed.

"Hans of the southern isles, also known as Prince Hans..." Hiccup began. "...were once a member under Nicholas crew he was my friend."

"Then why do he want' to see you dead? Why is he with the marines now?!" Jack asked. Hiccup took up the compass.

"It's all because of the story that's around this thing." He made the compass sway in the chain he held in his hand.

The story that both Hiccup and Astrid started to tell unknowing to the other, was about the same just some differences, by the way that they took in the happening differently Astrid had not be a part of the story she had heard it from Hiccup later and taking in all the details.  
Jack listened silently nodding now and then to show Hiccup he listened. Astrid had and she knew gotten the attention of everyone who was in the chambers, her story about how Hans changed from the glad pirate he once had been to the now bitter and power hungry marine he was today. And it all was because of the compass that pointed at what your heart wanted most. The trinket; seeming to those who didn't know as just a broken thing, but very powerful to those who knew of its special ability.

The story itself starts before Hiccup got onboard Nicholas ship. Nicholas rarely spoke of it or about the man that had once had an important role on his ship.  
Ten years into the past and the world knows not of any crew by the name the Night Fury or the Deadly Nadder, the Nightmare Dragon thought on its uprising in levels on the wanted list spreads fear over the waters but other than that everything was the same.

The Ship by the name Santoff Claussen, she was small, but fast, two masts and big sails in sun bleached colours, moved over the southern waters, Aster being nursed back to health in the storage room by Lunar and Sanderson's care Nicholas stood at the helm eying the sea with his blue eyes. He looked down when he heard steps and saw Sanderson walking towards him. The man was gesturing with his hands, and Nicholas smiled.

"He's awake." the blond short man nodded and smiled. "That's good." Nicholas said and smiled back. "Only bad thing is that we have to go to port... the very port of the country he ran from." Sanderson made some gestures again. "You're right, but I can't let him end up there again, but the looks on things he will only get killed." Sanderson sighed and gave away a hum, one of the few sounds the mute gave away.

Nicholas signalled for the man to take the helm as he walked to greet the slave they fished up from the waters.  
The tanned man with tribal tattoos lied on a bed made from spare sails, his dark skin made the bandages that covered his body stand out. Grey bluish hair, reaching to the man's shoulders lied around his head loose. Lunar sat on his knees next to the man cooling the feverish skin.

"How is he, old friend?" Nicholas asked as he entered the room. Lunar looked up at him before he looked back down to the man.

"He's from the Pooka tribe. His name is Aster he said no more before he lost conscious again." Lunar replied stroking a wet cloth over the slave's forehead before he placed it over the man's scalp. "He's in bad shape." Lunar said looking up at Nicholas. "He might not survive the night."

"We can only hope, no?" Nicholas smiled, before it fell and he sighed heavily. "WE need to make port, and I believe they will be looking for him."

"So what do you plan on doing?" Lunar gave him a scanning look.

"How about you coming up with a good disease, and cover him with bandages so that they can't recognize him." Lunar gave away a chuckle.

"You and your ways of thinking." Lunar smiled "Very well my friend I shall do as you asked, question: what about the mark?" Lunar gestured to the man's chest, where the circle with the crown scared the skin. Nicholas looked around before he found what he searched, and dipped his palm into it before he put it over the mark, leaving a handprint of white paint over the mark, making it hard to see.

"There." Nicholas said and smiled. Lunar chuckled.

"Yes, it will work."

The port had the white flags with the golden crown surrounded by a circle flapping around, marines moved around searching every vessel for the escaped slave to be executed for his actions. They never found him. Nicholas had laughed when the group of marines that had searched their vessel had fled head over heels when they heard that the "mummy" in the storage room had _necrotizing fasciitis_. They were in the port for one day, and just before they were to leave a man with red hair and green eyes asked if he could come onboard. He was dressed rather wealthy to Nicholas surprise.

"Why do you want to come onboard my ship?"

"Well, I want to leave the city, and you seem to be about to leave the port... so." Nicholas chuckled.

"Come onboard then." Nicholas said and the man did. "What's your name, son?"

"My name is Hans of the Southern isles."

"I'm Nicholas, welcome to the crew Hans."


	45. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

Santoff Claussen moved calmly over the waters, a seagull having a rest atop of the mainmast. Aster had gotten remarkable better after they left the port, he only had a bandage around his chest that was to keep his broken ribs from getting worse and his broken left arm was in an arm sling, he was still halting on his left leg, but not enough that he was going to listen to Lunar's complain, that he needed to lie down and rest, he had never been on a ship before, and he was still spellbound by the shifting hues the ocean could make all from the pink colour at sunrise to the deepest of blue in the middle of the day and fire in the sunset, how it would turn green grey when it was angry and a still light blue and clear as a glass when calm.

Hans had been shocked at first when he'd seen the Pooka, he knew just by looking at him that he was a slave, and tried to understand why Nicholas had saved said slave from those who owned him, but no one could understand how Nicholas saw the things that would seem normal to anyone else so differently, so he gave up after a couple of days of trying to understand the captain, and being on so close quarters with the slave he started to without really having any choice to befriend him, it didn't take long before he become good friends with everyone on the ship, still he was surprised by the fact that only the three of them had been able to sail the ship before Aster and he gotten on-board the vessel.

It was sometime after they made a stop at Berk to refill their pantries, and Nicholas became fast a good friend with the townspeople. Hans didn't really care much about socialising with the towns folks, he stayed on the ship, but he did see the scrawny youngster with brown hair and forest green eyes that was eyeing the ship in wonder and curiosity, he ignored the kid, it was not like Nicholas ship was anything special to those he had seen, but to the boy it must look foreign. Hans cast a look around to the longboats covered with shields on either side lied along the harbour around Santoff Claussen,

It was just a short couple of days after they left Berk that Sanderson created the loudest havoc Hans ever heard from the mute, He and the others soon found Sanderson standing in the storage room, wildly gesturing at the very youngster Hans had seen earlier back on Berk, the boy in his later teens gave them a worried look there he sat hugging a small bundle of clothes.

"A stove away?" Aster asked limping up to Hans's side giving the brunette a sceptic glance. "Wha' to do with 'im captain?" he asked looking at Nicholas.

"We turn around and put him back on that island." Hans said in an unhappy voice glaring at the teen, he was no fan of children; they were only annoying and in the way.

"No! Please!" The boy blurted out after Hans suggestion. Nicholas raised one eyebrow at that

"Say, what your name; son?" he asked instead.

"Hiccup."

"Sorry?" Aster said and gave the youngster a surprised look. "'e have the hiccups." he then said looking at the others.

"No I don't." The boy spat crossing his arms over his chest. "Hiccup **_is_** my name." he said glaring at Aster who had trouble stifling his laughter, before he just gave up and left the room laughing fully but winched in pain when his ribs gave away silent complain.

"By the moon, I told you to rest, Aster!" Lunar ordered after the Pooka. Nicholas sighed and turned to walk.

"What you standing around for we got ship to turn!" Nicholas bellowed turning and walked towards the door. They all began to move.

"No Please!" the youngster scrambled to his feet grabbing a hold of Nicholas arm, making the bigger man stop in his tracks. "Let me say! I don't want to go back! _Please!_ " he pleaded, Nicholas stared at him. "I'll work! I can do the worst things! I'll do anything! So please don't dump me back on Berk!"

"It is home, son. Your mother and father must be worried now." Nicholas said in a calm tone something dark flashed over the youngsters green eyes and he looked sideways to the floor.

"Mom's dead, and Dad's the reason I left…" he mumbled out.

Hans had left the room and was waiting for Nicholas to come out form there so that they could turn, Aster was sitting on a barrel grimacing holding his free hand at his ribs that hadn't agreed with his laughing. Hans glowered at the open door before he walked to the opening.

"Captain, what's our heading?" he asked in a gruff tone, tapping at the deck with his foot to show his annoyance. Nicholas turned to him opening his mouth to say something but a tug on his arm made him look back to Hiccup who gave him the most pleading look whispering out a please. Nicholas sighed, he pulled his arm free and walked to the door.

"No changes in heading, Hans. Kid stay." Nicholas then walked out of Hiccup's vision, but he saw the baffled expression on the ginger before those green eyes flashed to him in a glare.

"Just don't get in the way." He growled pointing at Hiccup before he walked away. Hiccup blinked in surprise. He walked out from the door looking around. Seeing Hans walk to the front of the ship muttering something under his breath. A loud yelp from Hiccup's left made his head snap to the side to find the tanned man and the short pale one next to each other.

"Will ye- _ow!_ Stop prodding me! **_OW!_** With those cold fingers of yers!" the tanned one shouted between pained cries.

"I have to make sure you didn't break your ribs again you idiot of a Pooka. Since you never listen it's your own fault that you're in pain." The pale man said and got a growl from the other man.

Hiccup blinked when he felt someone tug at his sleeve, and he looked down to find the one that had found him stand there with a smile on his lips, once he knew he had Hiccup's attention he started to gesture eagerly with his hands, Hiccup blinked not sure what to make of the gestures.

"I… don't understand…" he said confusion filling his voice.

"He- _ow_ , said that he will show ye- _ow!_ Around the ship. _Ow!_ Will you stop that!" the tanned man's voice said before Hiccup found him once again shouting at the pale man that Hiccup had started to believe were the doctor on the ship.

"What happened to you?" Hiccup asked instead giving Aster a confused look. The green eyes flashed to him.

"Slavery." The Pooka replied in a harsh and cold tone glaring down at the deck. Lunar stopped what he was doing and nodded.

"You haven't broken them again." He said in a serious tone. "But you better not do something like that again or your ribs will break again." The tanned man grimaced.

"Egh… As if I didn't know tha' already." He grunted getting to his feet and walked over to Hiccup. "Hic…cup was is?" the youngster nodded "Ma name is Aster, this is Lunar the ship's doctor." The Pooka gestured to the pale man. "An' this is Sanderson the chef but 'e also helps in caring for the ship." The mute nodded and smiled, Aster then gestured to Nicholas who stood humming at the helm. "That's Nicholas, 'e's the captain, and I owe 'im my life, he's also in care of the ship. An' tha' is Hans, 'e has his way with things, and more often than not, disagrees with Nicholas." the Pooka said and jabbed with his thumb in Hans's direction, who stood with his back to them looking out over the waters.

"He doesn't seem to like me very much…" Hiccup mumbled.

"Don't worry about it kid, he'll warm up to ye in a couple of days." Aster then patted him hard on the shoulder. "Now, let's show ye around the ship, so ye don't end up lost."

Aster had been wrong, Hans had not warmed up to Hiccup as he had to the other crewmembers; it was as if he felt that the brunette threatened his position on the ship. Nicholas and the others warmed up to him fast and he became one of the crew, while Hans's grip and relation with them slowly but surely went punier and less told of, he still did as Nicholas ordered, working harder than anyone else on that godforsaken vessel, but still he didn't feel like he got the credit he deserved, after all he had been on that ship longer than Hiccup, but when Aster got back to health no longer halting or with a risk of breaking his ribs or arm again he felt his position threatened once again, but not as much, Aster was older and stronger than him and had become a part of the crew before him.  
No one seemed to realize how Hans was becoming more and more of an outsider on the ship, it didn't bother him much, he knew what he wanted and needed to find, the very reason to why he got on the ship to begin with. Still despite all this, Hiccup still tried to become friends with the other male, or at least get on friendlier terms with him, Hans was annoyed at first, but realized that he could actually use Hiccup's loyalty for his own winning, so he let the young man get closer to him, and in the end Hiccup trusted him just as much as the rest of the crew.  
That naïve child.  
They had been on the ship for a long time and gone from port to port along the cities, it wasn't until they found the map that led to the very treasure of Captain Flint, where it lied untouched on the island Treasure, that Hans's thru colours started to spill thru his seams. That map led to the very treasure that held the object that had caused him to get on the ship to begin with; gold and riches he didn't care for, not at the moment at least, no he care only for one thing, a compass. A compass that pointed to what the wilder wanted most, in his possession the compass would serve a great deal for his future. As Nicholas and the others talked among themselves about what to do with the treasure, Hans schemed on how to get that compass for himself.

Santoff Clausen swayed in the waters as the stars shone down from above.

The waters around Treasure was wild and untrusty, one moment the ocean lied still and the wind was calm the next it was as if all winds had decided to gather at one spot making the waters feral. Santoff Clausen swayed wildly in the waters but Nicholas held her on an even keel as they got closer to the island that towered dangerously as a dark shadow in front of them. Then the wind stopped and the ocean stilled, but behind them the wind still roared and the waves were high, the ship floated slowly over the mirror blank waters, Hiccup looked down at the waters you couldn't see the bottom it was hidden under layers of crashed ships and seaweed. Fishes in all sizes swam around. The sail slaked there it hung, no wind at all, and all of a sudden it got really warm in the sun's beaming warmth.

"Looks like we can't get closer no wind, better anchor and take dinghy to shore." Nicholas said. "Who want to stay behind and guard ship?" he looked at all of them, Lunar and Sanderson held their hand up. "You sure Sanderson? You did not go ashore last time." The blond man smiled and started to gesture with his hands, Nicholas nodded along and sighed with a smile on his lips. "As you wish, why don't you go ashore Lunar?"

"I'm old, I need a good rest without you children frolicking around." The doctor said and smiled.

Nicholas was rowing the small boat, while Hiccup studied the ocean, letting his hand trail in the water for a moment, before a dark hand suddenly grabbed his wrist bringing it up from the waters.

"Don't tempt the fishes mate, they may look small, bu' these waters are deep." Aster said in a warning, Hiccup nodded seeing how a big mouthed fish with long sharp fangs looked away from him, it was blue and spotted and had strange fins, they looked more like wings and it had spikes from the tip of its nose to long but narrow tail. To his eyes it looked more like a… a dragon. He was caught up in his own thoughts and jerked back to awareness when the dinghy touched land, jerking to a stop. They jumped out from it and pulled the boat up from the waters grip. Nicholas took out the map and looked down at it before he looked to their surroundings.

"Follow me." Nicholas called and walked into the bushes, the air was humid and warm making their clothes stick to their bodies, Aster had no problem with the heat, but Hiccup and Nicholas, growing up in colder lands had harder to handle the warmth. "Search for towheaded hill the end will show way." Nicholas said. Looking around, the trees had dispersed further from the sandy beach, Hiccup looked around and squinted at a hill that looked strange, he heard how Aster and Hans moved further away, but he began to move towards it, feeling as if he distinctly had seen something similar to it, as he moved closer he saw white bones appear from the grass and moss that made the hill, and he gasped when he found himself face to faces with the remains of a Hideous Zippleback, he had only heard stories, of them, then that fish he had seen, was it a Thunderdrum? He looked back towards the waters before he looked back to the dragon.

"I think I found something!" he called out. Beginning to walk around the long since dead dragon. The tail, it was the end, where was the tail?

"What you find, son?" Nicholas walked up to them.

"The two headed hill, captain." Hiccup said and found the tails; lie close together, as he spoke "And the end is there." He pointed at it, turning on his heels in the direction the tail pointed "pointing that way." He pointed with his arm.

"That's ma boy!" Aster shouted in a laugh, bringing his arm around Hiccup's neck and gave his head a nudge, earning an unhappy gruff from the younger man. Hans glared at them before he clicked his tongue in annoyance. Nicholas laughed loudly before they began to walk in the direction the tail pointed.

"What's next?" Aster asked.

"Forever white hill will greet us and left horn will show way." Nicholas said. They had been walking for a long time when Aster saw white in front of them.

"Is tha' it?" he asked pointing. They walked past some trees to find themselves in front of a big pile of bones.

"Boneknapper…" Hiccup gasped out staring at the bones. Hans cast him a fleeting glare at that before he walked towards the pile.

"Left horn point the way, was it?" he looked at the big horns on the big scull, the right one was broken of leaving only the left one. It spiralled in uneven ways before the end pointed to the right "This way." He said gesturing to the right.

They began to walk again and soon the grass turned to small pebbles under their feet before it grew stiffer and harder and turned to flat rocks, a big cave opened up in front of them the opening was like a big mouth sharp ends hung down threateningly. Hiccup began to move towards the entrance, Nicholas looked down at the map and stiffened and in a rush reaching forward to grab a hold of Hiccup's neck-collar pulling him back just as a big stone tooth from the mouth of the cave fell down and shattered against the stones.

"Not that way, son." Nicholas said letting go of Hiccup who stared wide eyed at the shattered rock, it had hit, where he had stood moments earlier. "Follow me." Nicholas began to walk and they followed. To a small entrance hidden behind vegetation next to the big opening. A long tunnel greeted them, but it was lit up by glowing stones in the walls. A golden glimmer then filled the tunnel and they soon found themselves standing in front of a big pile of gold, money, chalices, candlesticks and much more on top of it all a on a platform that the big pile of gold had grown around a skeleton sat in a gold covered thrown, dressed in the clothes of a pirate at his feet lied the white remains of another dragon. Hiccup stared as he began to climb the pile of gold, towards the throne. Aster was gapping at the gold and was currently filling the scarf around his hips with the golden wonders. Hans looked around and then saw what he looked for gripped in the hand of the pirate was the compass, wood black as the night and with gold on the edges, his eyes grew dark in hate and greed when he saw how Hiccup was already moving towards the throne. Was he going to take the compass? HIS compass! No Hans would not have it! He began to climb the golden pile as well, he was not gonna let that boy get HIS compass!

Hiccup reached the platform first staring wide eyed at the dragon, a Night Fury, oh he knew it was by the bones. The Rarest dragon of them all, he sank down on his heels in front of it, reaching his hand to the bones, they were dry but still cold to the touch, but he still felt the power within, he looked up when he heard the shatter of someone climbing the cold, and found himself face to face with Hans who looked furious, he saw how the man cast a look towards the dead pirate before the green eyes flashed back to him, he snorted before he turned and walked over to the pirate's remains.

Nicholas hummed slowly as he studied the map, there was small words written at one corner but he had trouble making them out, he blinked after a while feeling a cold trail fall down along his back, his hair rising. He then cast a look around, Aster still stood at the bottom of the pile of gold, but Nicholas felt his blood turn cold when he saw Hiccup and Hans at the top.

"HANS!" he shouted out "Don't touch the compass!" Nicholas bellowed. The man turned around to glare down at him and Nicholas knew right there that he wasn't going to listen. "Hans it's an **_order_**!"

Hans glared at the man he called captain, he was not gonna let the compass out of his grasp now, not when he was so close. He snorted at the man and turned to the dead pirate reaching for the compass.

"No!" He stumbled to the ground when Hiccup threw himself at him. "Don't touch it, it was an order!" Hiccup shouted. Hans growled loudly, that was it! He kicked Hiccup of him, a well-placed kick in Hiccup's guts; sending the younger male crashing into the remains of the Night Fury and trundled down the pile of gold along with the scull ending up on the main floor wheezing for air. The scull shattered as it hit the ground and Hiccup saw one of the teeth being broken free, he grabbed it just as the floor gave away a big quivering, his head shot up to stare, Hans had grabbed the wrist of the pirate and was breaking the compass free from its grip.

"HANS!" Hiccup shouted, before he was manhandled to his feet by Aster. Stones was starting to fall from the roof.

"Move kid, we can't stay 'ere!" the Pooka shouted. Hiccup was pushed thru the tunnel, Aster running behind him.

"HANS!" Nicholas shouted, the man still stood in the cave that was caving in more as time went. "Was this what you were after from beginning?!" he shouted to deaf ears he gnashed his teeth in irritation before he hurried out from the cave.

Hans looked at the compass that he now held in his hands, he didn't notice how the skeleton of the pirate crumbled in the throne and fell apart, he grinned like a madman at the compass that finally were his. A small rock landed on his shoulder snapping him out from his trance, he looked up and jumped out of the way for a big rock who crushed bone and throne under its weight he skidded and tumbled down the pile of gold he ran into the tunnel just as the entrance to the cave got blocked by a big rock, and a loud roar was heard just as Hans got out form the tunnel a bug gust of wind and dust blew him in the back when the cave finally caved in.

Hans lifted his eyes finding his crewmates and captain glare at him. Nicholas looked down right furious. Aster looked more annoyed and Hiccup stood holding his arms around his stomach where Hans had kicked him, looking at him with betrayal in his eyes.

"Are you out of mind!?" Nicholas shouted loudly. "Not only did you overlook order you put our lives in danger, by doing!" Nicholas glared at the man, who didn't look even the slightest concerned about what could have happened. He just snorted at Nicholas and began to walk back towards the ship. "HANS!" Nicholas bellowed "We are not done with talk!"

"Yes we are." The man called back. Hiccup growled and ran up grabbing and tearing the compass from Hans grip, Hans gave away a shout at that grabbing after Hiccup who retreated back to Nicholas and gave the captain the compass, earning a murderous glare from Hans. Nicholas looked down at the compass with unhappy eyes flipping it open, the arrow spun around in circles from left to right before it stopped pointing towards the ship, which he knew weren't towards north.

"It doesn't point north." Aster said in surprise. "Ye risked our lives for a broken compass!?" he shouted glaring at Hans who was glaring at all of them, before he growled and stormed towards the ship.

Back at the ship and once again out on the open sea, Nicholas brought Hans to his cabin and you could hear, thru the thick walls and even with the door closed how they argued wildly inside Nicholas voice furious and Hans unconcerned but annoyed.  
Hiccup noticed there he stood resting against the railing, how Aster flinched each time one of them raised their voice louder suddenly without warning. Hiccup sighed still massaging his sore stomach Hans had a good kicking leg and had hit where he knew it would hurt… and Hiccup wished to not receive one of his kicks again. He opened his palm looking down at the tooth that he had taken from the Night Fury's remains, it was pale in the sunlight yellowish on one side and white as snow on the other, Aster cast him a look as he sat and divided the golden pieces he had gathered in five shares, but the fifth share was smaller than the others: Hans's share; for gambling with their lives for a broken compass, Aster didn't let go of grudges easily, especially if his life had been threatened because of it.

"What are ya holding, kid?" he asked after a while looking at the young man, Hiccup opened his palm and lifted up the tooth between his thumb and index finger. "Night Fury tooth." The Pooka gasped. "They're a rarity, it is a powerful token, kid, keep it." He said and smiled Hiccup looked down at the tooth.

"Have you seen one?"

"Seen what?" Aster asked "A Night Fury?" Hiccup nodded. "Nay… can't say I 'ave… but ma great grand ma used to tell me about her seeing one as a child, it was a powerful being I tell ya, black as the night with speed so fast ye were unable to see it, only the sound of its wings and then it's fire, it was friendly if ye won it's trust, ate mostly fish, according to her."

"I only heard stories… A Night Fury the unholy offspring of lighting and death itself. My ancestors weren't on good terms with the dragons… killed most of them sadly…" he clenched his fist around the tooth feeling it prick his skin form the sharpness.

"Magical creatures exist where they get to be left alone." Aster said and looked out over the waters "The depths of the ocean are unreachable by man, and there they can live in peace." Aster looked at Hiccup before he got to his feet and left, returning after a while holding something in his hand, he took his spot on the deck again and then held out his hand. "Can ye give me the tooth for a moment?" Hiccup gave him a confused look but handed the tooth over. Aster took it and began to work; Hiccup moved closer to see how he bound a thin rope around the tooth and then bound it to a small but long silver chain.

"What are you doing?" Hiccup asked in confusion. Aster smiled and gestured for Hiccup to sit down, the young man sat down after a bit of hesitation, Aster held in the ends of the chain.

"Did ye plan on carry it in ye hand in the future?" he asked fastening the chain around Hiccup's neck "By doing this ye can carry it with ye, but 'ave ye hands free." He let go of the chain that fell down a bit and rested against Hiccup's skin. "Ma own made necklace." The Pooka said and laughed, Hiccup moved his hand to the tooth that rested against his chest and smiled.

"Thanks Aster." He said and smiled.

"Don't worry about it, kid." Aster said and ruffled Hiccup's hair, earning a laugh merged with a complaining grunt.

The door was slammed open and both Aster and Hiccup jolted, Hans stormed out from the room anger clearly written on his face, he passed them and cast Hiccup another glare, before he disappeared up the stairs to the upper deck in the front of the ship, Aster and Hiccup looked after him, before they looked back to the open door where Nicholas stood giving away a heavy sigh looking so very tired. They got to their feet and hurried up to him.

"Wha' happened, mate?" Aster asked.

"Talk not go well..." Nicholas sighed.

"So we heard..." Hiccup said slowly casting another look in Hans's direction. "He really hates me."

"All this, for a broken compass." Aster grumbled

"It not broken, son." Nicholas said. Both Aster and Hiccup gave him a confused look.

"But et is not pointing to the north." Aster said.

"No, but you wish to find north?" Nicholas raised one eyebrow and smiled at their confusion.

"What are you trying to say?" Hiccup asked.

"Compass point to most wanted thing owner want."

"What?"

The tension on the ship only grew; Lunar and Sanderson stayed neutral in this and tried to get both sides to come on friendlier terms, all in vain.  
Hans only grew angrier by the fact that Nicholas still had the compass in custody, and Aster grew harsher towards the male while Hiccup tried to stay away from Hans as much as possible, by all the death glares he got from the ginger if he got to close, blaming him for losing the compass back on Treasure.

It was one night that Hans had had enough; that compass was rightfully his, he had found it! In the dead of night he sneaked into the Captain cabin; the deep red draperies that split the room in two, the workshop in one end and the sleeping quarters on the other, Hans heard him snore loudly on the other side of the fabric. Hans looked around shuffling around as silent as a mouse searching for the compass, he found it on the desk, next to junk from all over the world, why did Nicholas keep all that stuff? He heard the door creak behind him and light from a lantern fell into the room.

"Hans?" Anger welled up inside Hans oh he knew that voice, **him**. "What are you doing?" Hans turned around to face Hiccup who still stood in the door holding the lantern in one hand giving him a confused look.

"Of all people entering that door..." Hans said unsheathing his knife from its place on his belt and gave Hiccup the most angry glare ever, he could hear Hiccup gulp "...It had to be **you**." Hans put the compass back on the table. "I told you not to get in my way, **Hiccup**." Hans saw fear flash in those green orbs as they flashed to the knife and then back to Hans. Hiccup then suddenly opened his mouth and Hans knew right away what he was gonna do, alarm Nicholas, he was not gonna let that happen! He threw himself at Hiccup, making the younger man yelp in surprise he barely managed to avoid the knife, it cut up a slit on his lower jaw, Hiccup stumbled backwards out from the door, dropping the lantern at the same time he brought his hands up to protect his face. The lantern shattered against the deck the oil taking flame and the fires rose wildly starting to eat the wooden deck. Hans growled and attacked again, kicking Hiccup in the shin making the younger male shout out in surprise and pain as he hit the deck hard, he grimaced and moved his hands to his head that had smacked against the wood, he opened his eyes again the world spinning and he saw Hans tower over him, the fire made his eyes seem to glow, and Hiccup felt dread and fear grab a hold of him.

"Hans, what are you doing!?" Hiccup managed to shout out staring up at the man.

"Taking care of something I should have done first thing first, if I known how much trouble you would cause me." Hans said in a cold tone, "That compass is rightfully mine." Hiccup cast a look down seeing the knife, he threw his legs up from the deck and kicked the knife away; it hit the deck and sunk down into the wood, as Hans cursed loudly gripping his hand walking to the side as Hiccup scrambled to his feet.

"Bastard, you will pay for that." Hans growled looking at Hiccup with a murderous glare. Hiccup swallowed but didn't move; he barely realized the blood that was running down his jaw dripping to the deck.

The hiss of fire being forced out fell over the ship

"Pay for what, Hans?" Nicholas stood out on the deck glaring at the man, while Aster and Lunar was putting out the fire with a half soaked sail, making the fire die from lack of oxygen. Hans snarled at him and bent down picking up his knife from the wood and pointed it at Nicholas.

"Hans, what are you doing!?" Lunar said in shock. "You know it's a sign of mutiny to point your weapon at your captain!" Hans ignored the older man, eyes not leaving Nicholas.

"That compass is rightfully mine, I want it back." He held out his hand in demand. Nicholas frowned at him.

"I will not give compass to you." Nicholas said in a strict voice. "You plan on stealing compass from me, you attack Hiccup, now you point weapon at me." Nicholas said his voice growing stricter. "Remember place on ship, Hans." Nicholas glared back at the last.

"That compass is the very reason to why I got onboard this godforsaken vessel to begin with. Now hand it over." He said in a demanding voice. Nicholas rose to his full height and walked towards Hans.

"I will not." Nicholas said in a cold voice as he grabbed a hold of Hans's wrist of the hand that held the knife. "And I have had enough of you."

The next day they anchored Santoff Claussen next to a deserted island, Hans was given one gun with one shot, before he was marooned on the island. He had fired the gun in a way to try and draw blood from Aster who had been the one to leave him on the island, but missed, which the Pooka voiced with a smug grin on his lips. Before he rowed back in the dinghy, colourful curses and threats fell from Hans's lips as he waded out in the water, before he stopped as it reached to his knees. He growled and returned back to the land. Glaring at the now empty gun in his hand throwing it at one of the many palm trees that grew shrouded by the beach the tree shook from the hit sending down two coconuts to the ground.

Hiccup looked at the island as it grew smaller against the horizon.

"Will he be alright?" he asked looking at Lunar who was cleaning and patching up the wound on his jaw, it needed stitching and Hiccup had a death grip of his own knees.

"The water's have ships travelling in them now and then, if he's lucky one will pick him up. Forget about him." the doctor replied in a calm voice as he continued to stitch the wound close. "It is the most merciful way to handle a mutineer."

"What are the other ways?" Hiccup asked, but got a really tired look from Lunar; that told him to shut up. "Sorry..." Hiccup mumbled out, winching slightly as Lunar fastened the thread.

Nicholas steps were heard before the man showed himself.

"Hiccup." The man said in a calm voice Lunar got to his feet and left to pack away the medical kit.

"Captain." Hiccup said in reply looking up at the man.

"Here, son." Nicholas threw something at him, and Hiccup noticed when he caught it that it was the compass.

"Wha- but I can't- why, why would you give it to me?" he stared up at Nicholas in confusion.

"Because I believe you can handle compass's power without greed clouding mind." Hiccup looked down at the compass and flipped it open, the arrow spun wildly and Hiccup sighed.

"Maybe it's safer with me because I don't really know what I want." Then the arrow stopped and pointed to their left, Hiccup blinked and turned his head around the shoreline of a big city was visible.

"Ah Corona, what you want you find there, son."

"But I don't want anything..."

"But heart wants what head don't." Nicholas poked him lightly in the chest and smiled.


	46. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

Hiccup stopped talking, Jack just stared at him not sure what to say.

"Well that's pretty much it." Hiccup said and shrugged, once again fastening the compass to his belt. "My feelings for this trinket has changed a lot..." he mumbled and blinked when he felt Jack's hand on his cheek, he felt the wooden ring against his skin and smiled as he lifted his head up again to look into that brown and blue eye; Jack was looking at the scar moving his thumb over the paler skin with a sorrowful but also angry look in his eyes, Hiccup took a hold of Jack's hand, making the teen look back up at him. "...to a sort of acceptance, but the biggest change in feelings for it was all because of you." Hiccup continued before he kissed Jack on the cheek, earning a snicker in reply.

"So what are we gonna do when we get to Corona?" Jack asked after a while playing with Hiccup's hair. "It's one of the biggest cities, and the headquarters of the Marines no less…" Hiccup sighed and looked out over the ocean.

"We'll see when we get there..." He said. "Come now, before they eat up all of the food." Hiccup said and pulled Jack with him towards the galley.

Phoebus walked down the stone stairs to the chambers, the hour was late and every prisoners slept or tried to sleep, Nana looked up at him when he walked past her, taking a torch from the wall and walked towards the cell where the crew of the Deadly Nadder was kept.

"I never thought I'd see your face down here, Phoebus." A male voice said from the cell as Phoebus stopped at the bars. Everyone was sleeping expect for one of them, Maximums; who sat leaning against the wall close to the bars looking up at him, his brown eyes seemed to glow in the light from the torch in Phoebus's hand.

"I never thought I'd see you again either… Max." Maximus chuckled in reply and looked up to the roof letting his head rest against the stone wall behind him.

"Heard you got promoted to Captain, congratulations." He said after a while of silence, casting a look to the marine and a sigh was his reply. "I'm glad, it was one of your biggest dreams back in the days, right?"

"To be a Captain, yes, but I never wished to work under the likes of _him_." Phoebus almost spit out the last word as if it had a horrible taste. Maximus snorted.

"Now, now, you know not to talk bad about your superior, its bad luck." Maximus got to his feet standing in front of Phoebus a slight bit taller than the other man, but only slightly, the bars were the only thing that separated them.

"Are _you_ , really telling me about Marine etiquette? The great Lieutenant Maximus who disappeared to return as a pirate." Maximus shrugged in insignificance, Phoebus looked him over before he sighed pulling one hand thru his blond hair. "You can still come back, you know." Phoebus said after a while, Maximus felt a smile tug at his lips at the slight plead in the other man's voice.

"Sorry Phoebus, but my place is here." Maximus looked into those blue eyes of the other man. "With my crew."

"Right…" Phoebus said and walked away from the bars but stopped when his face was hidden from the other man. "There is a week left… before you and the rest of the crew will get personal to the gallows." His voice didn't have humour in it, but he didn't sound apologetic either. Maximus chuckled when he heard the door close and he sat down again. Silence hung over the cells again.

"You do know, they might let you live if you return to them." Astrid's voice filled the silence, Maximus looked to her she was looking back at him with those piercing blue eyes.

"Regretting you're decision in saving my life, captain?" Maximus asked with a smirk, Astrid laughed.

"Not even the slightest." She then gave him a more serious look. "Did… where you still a Marine when Hans joined?" she asked, Maximus gave her a surprised look.

"Do I dare to ask why you're asking me?"

"Hiccup only told me they marooned Hans on that island, and that a Marine ship saved him." Maximus sighed deeply closing his eyes getting himself comfortable against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.

"Well." He said "I wasn't stationed on the ship that picked him up, but I heard from the crew that he had made a big fire as a signal, and when they had picked him up he had greeted them not as a pirate, but as a man of great status."

"What do you mean?" Astrid moved closer to him, so that their discussion got more personal.

"He is the thirteenth son of the Southern Isles."

"Which means?" Astrid was giving him a confused look, Maximus sighed and looked at her his brown eyes serious.

"To make it simplified." Maximus said "Hans's the thirteenth prince of the Southern Isles, the country which took over the land where the Pooka clan once lived." Astrid stared at him with wide eyes. "But since the crown is too far out of his grasp, he went for the Marines instead and despite of him being pirate once he is still of royal blood and it was quite easy for him to climb the higher ranks due to it. The ship I was stationed on deported from Corona just as he was promoted to Captain. Then there was the storm… and you know the rest from there."

The galley was warm and everyone was laughing at a joke Nicholas said, as he had put the dishes away and given everyone a cup of hot chocolate.

"I never asked but where are ye from Eret?" Merida asked looking at him.

"I don't really remember, I grew up on my father's fishing ship as far as I know…" Eret replied furrowing his brows as he thought about it.

"Hunting ship?" It was Eugene's turn to ask, and he raised one eyebrow in confusion.

"Eret was a hunter." Rapunzel said. "Catching everything from seals; dolphins, sharks and killer whales."

"Rough business?" Aster said as he sipped on his cup of chocolate. Eret gave away a tired laugh.

"Yeah, but it gave me and my crew food on the table when we sold out catch…" He sighed heavily. "Then Drago came around and our catch was sold to him instead and he gave us more than anyone else had." Eret put the cup down on the table knitting his fingers together before he rested his face over them. "Everything was good until Monstro happened…" a darkness fell over Eret's eyes.

"What happened..?" Tip asked, Rapunzel looked at Eret, she knew what happened, and she noticed how Jack had a wounded look in his eyes, and she understood that he knew as well.

"Do any of you know who Monstro is?" Eret asked instead of answering.

"Ay…" Aster said and downed the last of his chocolate. "'e's said to be the biggest whale ever, an' has a cranky temper an' an unlettable hunger for ships…" Aster muttered.

"You mean..!" Hiro and Tip said staring at Aster before they looked back to Eret.

"Only I survived." Eret said.

"Then wha' about Dagur?" Merida asked getting a loud groan from Eret and Jack as reply. Jack let his head hit the wall of the galley arms crossed over his chest, while Eret massaged his temples.

"That nuisance is from Berserk. He was already half mad when he got on-board and it only got worse as the weeks passed, he loved to watch people suffer and enjoyed to give them pain, he followed Drago's orders with delight."

"One of the reasons as to why Drago was- I'm not gonna say kind, because I don't believe that man even know what _kind_ means, he was, let's say, less harsh with Dagur than anyone else." Jack said glaring at the table.

"Dagur can't 'ave been tha' bad…" Merida said "He only had a foul mouth-"

"He gave Eugene black eye." Nicholas stated.

"Threatened us." Eugene said.

"Almost stabbed me with a thrown knife." Hiccup said.

"And don't get me and Jack started on everything he did back on the Nightmare Dragon." Eret said.

"Okay, FINE." Merida said and threw her hands up in the air. "He was a horrible person." They all laughed and soon the comfortable family feeling fell over them again.

The Bewilderbeast swayed calmly in the night, everyone was sleeping. The hammocks swaying with the ship. In the girl's room Tip slurred something and pulled the blanket higher as Pig nuzzled closer to her chest to grow still when his head was nuzzled in under her jaw, as the cat lied on his back; Rapunzel lied on her back hands clasped on her stomach over the blanket, Pascal slept on her chest, Merida lied sprawled in her hammock, one leg and arm hung over the edge on each side while the other hand rested on her stomach scratching in her sleep, the blanket was tangled around her legs while half of it was lying on the floor, she snored quietly.  
In the boy's room Nicholas snored as usually; Aster lied with his pillow over his head in a way to force the noise away and had fallen asleep like that, Eugene lied on his stomach still wearing the earmuffs to block out the sounds, Tadashi muttered something and rolled over to his side making a piece of the blanket touch the floor, Hiro snored silently as he lied sprawled in his hammock, one leg hanging over the edge while the blanket lied in a pile on the floor, Eret slept with his arms crossed behind his head and a peaceful expression on his face as the ship rocked them in their sleep.  
In the galley in the warmth from the stove, Toothless slept enjoying the hotspot.

Hiccup blinked his eyes open, looking up to the dark ceiling trying to figure out what it was that had woken him. The cabin was dark, but the moon shone in thru the rear window, he was just about to fall asleep again when he heard the sound again, he sat up on his elbows and turned his head to his side, Jack was lying on his side, with his back turned towards him curled together, giving away a whines and quiet sobs, his body flinching now and then and he was gripping the pillow and blanket hard. Hiccup sighed as he watched the other teen.  
A nightmare; Hiccup was sure of it, but he also knew that Pitch was not the tormentor this time, just memories, that knowledge gave him some kind of peace but at the same time made him give Jack a sad look.  
Jack gave away another whine, and his shoulders trembled as he curled together tighter. Hiccup sighed with a weak smile as he laid down on his side and pulled Jack close, a surprised and confused sound left the other male who blinked his teary eyes open, Hiccup held him close and he felt how Jack snuggled even closer when he realized where he was, before he fell asleep again. Hiccup kissed him on the cheek before he closed his eyes and fell asleep as well, not letting his hold of Jack loose, but he heard just when sleep took him again how Jack gave away a content sigh, which made him smile.

"Have you heard!" a brown haired and eyed boy shouted as he scrambled over the big piles of scrap and trash in the dump, he was wearing a too big white flannel shirt, and a pair of brown pants, and to big shoes, that he made fit by putting straps of clothes in the shoes, hurrying to a group of six children.

"Jamie!" a young blond girl called out in a laugh running up to him, she wore a shirt that looked more to be a dress for her, she was the boy's sister, and only family still alive. A large brown haired girl with short hair sat on an empty barrel that had lost its lid, she wore an out-washed red shirt that once had belonged to a grown man, but she made it stick to her with a belt around her waist and had the sleeves rolled up to her shoulders, she wore a pair of big brown boots and pale pants. Standing to her left stood the two twins, dark skin, brown eyes and black hair bound into small and tight plaits, dressed in similar clothes, all gathered from the dump; or been given to them by generous people from the town. On the ground sitting trying to get a pair of old skew glasses to get straight again, he had blond hair that hung down in his blue eyes; he wore clothes made from old and tattered sails. Behind him a red-brown haired girl stood she looked at the brown haired boy with a sight bit of worry, evens he had clothes from the tattered sails.

"What is it Jamie?" the red-brown haired girl asked.

"The marines have caught the Deadly Nadder! And they are going to Lynch them in five days!" Jamie said. "But I overheard some of the guards, and they said that it's just bait for the Night Fury."

"The Night Fury?" the big girl said in surprise. "It's where Eugene and Rapunzel are."

"You're right Cupcake…" the smaller girl said.

"Does that mean that-" the first twin started, but was cut off by the other.

"-the Night Fury will come here?!"

"Yeah!" the blond boy said putting his glasses back on, they were still skew but not as much as before. "I want to meet the crew again!" he said and grinned.

The seven children: Jamie, Pippa, Monty, Caleb and Claude and Cupcake smiled and began to talk about how life had been back when they met the first members of the crew; while Sophie listened with interest.  
A crew that was gonna become one of many, infamous pirate crews on the Marines wanting list.


	47. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

Stormfly looked up from there she sat, her blue feathers darker from the shadows of the trees, she gave away a happy squawk when she saw the ship coming towards the city. The big sails and the flag red with a black dragon on. She knew it right away. She threw herself from the twig she had been sitting on and flew towards the ship squawking loudly. She got closer to the ship and gave away a shout. The captain stood at the helm and the panther, that had been snoozing in the sun jerked to its feet giving away a happy shout. Stormfly landed on the fence in front of the helm she squawked out looking at Hiccup with hopeful eyes.

"Ship is here, ship is here!" she squawked out ruffling her feathers.

"Stormfly." Rapunzel said and smiled greeting the bird with a cheek scratch.

"Who's the bird?" Eret asked in confusion looking at Jack who smiled at him.

"That is Stormfly, Astrid's parrot."

"Astrid? The captain of the Deadly Nadder?" Jack nodded.

Hiccup smiled at the parrot.

"Say, Stormfly do you know where Astrid and the others are?"

"Throw them in iron, throw them in iron." Stormfly said.

"Yes I know they're caught, do you know where they are kept?" the parrot gave away a whistle.

"Throw them in chambers!" the parrot shouted. Hiccup nodded. Before he took up a piece of paper and a coal pen from the inside of his coat, he wrote something on the paper before he folded it and held it out for the parrot.

"Deliver this to Astrid, okay." she nodded and took the paper in one of her feet holding it tightly before she took off and flew back towards Corona.

She flew to the window she remembered her human being behind. She looked inside before she shuffled around a bit and bit around the paper and put in her head between the bars, giving away a squeak around the piece of paper.

"Stormfly?" Maximus said in surprise. Astrid looked up at the parrot who dropped the piece of paper into the room.

"Dragon attack, dragon attack." She then squawked out. Astrid took the paper and unfolded it, reading the fast written message, before she burst out laughing.

"What is it?" Heather asked.

"Is ii something good, or is it horrible?" Mu-Shu asked.

"The Jolly Roger of the Night Fury had been spotted on the waters outside of Corona." She said with a grin and showed them the paper. "Hiccup is on his way."

Hiccup looked after the blue parrot as she flew towards the city.

"What did you write?" Rapunzel asked walking up to his side.

"Well, that they start to get ready for something crazy." He replied and smiled at her.

"Still working on it." Hiccup replied.

The Bewilderbeast moved closer to the city when Aster suddenly shouted form the crow's nest.

"Ay! I see the Deadly Nadder!" he shouted "An' she isn't looking so good." The ship became visible to them, he mast had gotten fixed, but it was clear those who had fixed it didn't know how to do it right.

"It hurt to watch, poor girl." Nicholas said.  
Hiccup looked at the pirate ship, her colours were getting washed away and the spikes sawn of.

"They are making her a marine ship." He said in a startled voice. "They don't even know her history…" Hiccup walked up to the railing staring at the ship. Jack asked walking up to his side and placed his hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

"Then we got to get her back." He said. "It can't be that hard."

"Jack's right, we can't just leave 'er to the hands of the Marines, also, Astrid will nee' a ship after we free 'em." Merida said.

"How? Hans along with the marines probably know all our faces already." Eugene said.

"Hans doesn't know the faces of every one." Hiccup turned to look at them. "And neither does the marines. Some of us are still unknown…" He pointed at Tadashi, Tip and Hiro, but also Eret.

"They know my face." Eret said and pointed at Jack "Jack on the other hand managed to stay anonymous." The whitehaired just shrugged at that.

"It doesn't change much…" Hiccup mumbled before he cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "I got a plan." He said "We will split up, we can't move in a big group in the city, that will only get attention, and that is what we **don't** want so..." He looked at all of them. "Nicholas, you Merida and Eugene get the Deadly Nadder out from the marine port tonight." Hiccup said. "Rapunzel, Tadashi, Eret and Hiro, you get Astrid and her crew free." Tip frowned slightly.

"Then what about me, Jack and Aster?" she asked. "And what are you going to do?"

"Someone has to stay back and guard the ship." Hiccup said a matter of fact, and before neither Tip nor Jack managed to say anything. "And I'm going to find Hans."

"Alone?!" Jack said staring at him.

"It's me he wants-"

"No." Jack cut him off, Hiccup gave him a surprised look "No." Jack repeated "You're not going alone." He was looking at Hiccup with seriousness in his eyes "I won't let you go to face him alone."

"Jack…"

"I hold with Jack." Nicholas said.

"He almost got you back at Arendelle." Rapunzel shielded in.

"If it wasn't for Jack and Toothless… he would probably have won…" Eugene mumbled out to no one and everyone at the same time.  
Jack looked from them before he turned back to Hiccup raising an eyebrow as he lock eyes with him.

"I'm going with you." He said.

"No! It's too dangerous stay on the ship." Hiccup said and to empathise pointed to the deck, Jack frowned at that.

"To do what exactly" he snorted frown deepening. "Watch helplessly from the side-lines while you go of alone?" Jack was glaring now "I don't think so."

"All I'm asking is for you to stay on the ship." Hiccup said in a somewhat pleading tone.

"I won't. We're a team remember; I'm with you - for better or worse." Jack countered.

"I have to do this _alone_." Hiccup said irritation creeping into his voice

"Why? You're off to Face Hans _alone_ , and I can't come with you?" Jack was getting annoyed, the rest of the crew looked between them with worry.

"No." Hiccup said and began to move back towards the helm.

"You think I can't handle myself out there, is that it?!" Jack's patience were starting to run short and Toothless noticed it by the way the staff was acting.

"No, I'm not…"

"You're not, what?" Jack literary spat out the last word of the sentence

"I'm not strong enough." Hiccup placed his hand on one of the handles on the helm, back facing Jack.

"Is this what it is about, proving you're strong enough and this will make you stronger?!"

"Yes. NO!" Hiccup raised his voice at the end, Jack only glared at his back.

"Oh I see." Jack's voice got bitter. "It's all about strength now is it, and I'm not strong enough to help you?" Jack looked away anger clear in his eyes, but also a look of betrayal "Am I relay that weak to you?" Jack muttered under his breath, Hiccup heard it clearly and felt a pang in his chest.

"I CAN NOT RISK LOOSING YOU AGAIN!" Hiccup burst out in a loud shout spinning around on his heel, startling Jack and the others at the sudden outburst. Hiccup was tens and he breathed thru his nose heavily not looking away from Jack. "I can't. Not again. I'm not s-strong enough." Hiccup shoulders slumped and he looked away looking so defeated. Jack stared for several minutes before he blinked and started to move, he took Hiccup's hand in his and placed it so that the back of his knuckles was over Jack's heart.

"If we face him together... you won't have to be strong on your own." Jack said and smiled weakly when Hiccup looked up at him again.

"I don't know what'll happen." He said slowly Jack smirked at that.

"Neither do I, but I rather spend that time with you then worry about it." Hiccup laughed at that, and the rest of the crew sighed in relief.

Hans stood in his office looking out the window, hands clasped behind his back and a satisfied smirk on his lips. Everything went according to his plan, Hiccup, that naïve idiot had fallen for his trap and was coming to his girlfriend and her crew's rescue. The summer solstice was in four days just enough time for lovely Hiccup and his crew to get on land break into the headquarters and free the crew and leave again, his smirk grew bigger and a chuckle left him, so naïve.  
A knock on the door made him stand straighter.

"Come in." He called, the door opened and closed

"You asked for me, sir." Phoebus said from where he stood at the door.

"Yes." Hans turned around smiling. "Move the hanging of the Deadly Nadder till tomorrow."

"But, Sir?" Phoebus gave him a confused look. "I thought you said you wanted to hang them on the summer solstice."

"I'm a man of wonders Captain; I can change my mind on things, now go and do as you're told." Phoebus nodded, still looking a bit unsure, just as he was about to open the door again, Hans suddenly remembered something. "Maximus of the Deadly Nadder was a comrade to you, right?" Phoebus stopped to look back at Hans, the bad feeling slowly growing in the pit of his stomach that had formed at the news that Hans wanted to move the hanging to happen earlier.

"Yes... We we're in schooling together, he's an honourable man." Phoebus felt the need to say the last because Hans looked like he was about to laugh.

"An honourable man you say? Even though he's just a pirate."

"You're one to talk." Phoebus muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, **sir**." Phoebus said looking Hans in the eye. The commander squinted at him for a moment before he shrugged and continued.

"I do hope, Phoebus, that the hanging of this 'honourable man', won't compromise your loyalty to the crown." Hans talked with just a sweet and innocent voice that a younger cadet would have taken the words for how they were spoken, but Phoebus knew that under that honey only a cold blade lied. "I'd hate to lose, a good man as yourself; to a group of pirates."

"My loyalty won't change." I'm loyal to the crown not you. Was what he had wanted to say but didn't. Hans waved his hand at him in a sign that he was dismissed, Phoebus nodded and left the office in a calm manner and walked away, but it didn't take long before he was trying to calm himself, by saying that Maximus had made his choice, but it still felt wrong to have the hanging four days earlier than originally planned.

Phoebus wasn't entirely sure how he had ended up on the corridor with open stone windows without glass that faced the execution platform, and the big square around it, it stood empty at the moment, the only people where the two guards that stood at the entrance, looking bored to death that they played cards on a barrel that they had moved to stand between them.

Phoebus sighed and left the big building walking towards the opening where the soldiers stood, said soldiers scrambled into moment when they noticed him and stood with straight backs and flustered faces when he reached them.

"At ease, soldiers." He said smiling at them; he could see them relax the moment the words left his lips. When he had passed them he heard how the barrel was moved back and they started to play cards again.

Phoebus walked around in the city, smiling and nodded at the citizens who said "hello" and "good day, captain" to him when they saw him. He did what he had done earlier weeks, buying some food, even if he didn't need it, but he knew some that did. He heard how the old baker wife told her daughter in a hushed tone that he was the only marine and solider that went to the dump by free will.

The city changed in a blink of an eye when he walked under the arch in the high stone wall; that split the city in two, on one side the city was blooming and rich, houses standing tall and in bright colours, on the other side of the arch it was different, the houses were small and dull, and scrap and junk covered the ground in big piles, dogs and cats walked along the half functional streets while rat and mice scrambled around in the dunes of scrap in search for eatable things. Phoebus kept walking and soon saw the place where he used to sit, a group of children played around on the small square, older people sat on benches made from scrap and junk. A brown haired boy saw him first.

"It's Phoebus!" he called out with a big toothy smile.

"Look! It's Phoebus! Phoebus is back!" other children called and they all ran up to him, he laughed and patted one of them on the head.

"Calm down, calm down." He laughed as he was pulled by the children to the spot where he used to sit. Once he made himself comfortable he began to give out the bread and food he bought earlier, there was no greed in these children when they ran over to their families and split the bread among themselves, so that everyone who lived there got a piece of food.

"Phoebus, is it true they are going to hang the Deadly Nadder?" a voice asked from his side, Phoebus turned his head to look into the brown eyes of a brown haired boy who held his little blond sisters hand.

"Jamie." Phoebus said giving him a sad look. "Where did you hear that?"

"Two soldiers said it" Jamie said

"Did they say anything else?" Phoebus asked the boy nodded.

"That the Night Fury are coming here." He said.

"Night Fury, Night Fury!" Sophie giggled out, before her eyes caught sight of a butterfly "pretty~" she said and began to chase after it.

"Is that true? Are the Night Fury really coming here?" Jamie grabbed a hold of Phoebus arm, the man sighed.

"Yes." He said "The crew of the Night Fury are coming here, intact you can already see they're ship from the harbour."

"Eh, Really!" Jamie cried out Phoebus nodded but his eyes moved in the direction of the ocean and he got an annoyed look on his face. "What's wrong?" Jamie asked in slight worry "they are in good time to save the Deadly Nadder, its four day's left till the summer solstice."

"If only…" Phoebus muttered out.

"What do you mean?" Jamie had tilted his head to the side and looked at Phoebus with confused eyes. Phoebus wondered if he was gonna tell him or not, after all he was just a child. It was probably best to keep the child from knowing the truth.

"It's grownup's stuff." He said ruffling Jamie's hair getting a complaint from the boy in return.

"Come on Phoebus!" he said "Tell me! I'm old enough!" Phoebus sighed in defeat.

"They're going to hang the Deadly Nadder crew tomorrow." He heard a gasp of terror from Jamie.

"But they said… no… that means…" he stared at Phoebus. "Can't you do something!? You can stop the hanging right!"

"I can't just make the hanging of a crew of Pirates become half-done just because I don't want to see them dead." Phoebus said in a serious voice. "I'm not high enough in the ranks for my opinion to matter."

"But…"

"I can't do anything about this decision Jamie, no matter how much I'd like to."


	48. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

The sky was dark when Phoebus was done with his paperwork, he cast a look out towards the water to see the Bewilderbeast sway on the water looking mysterious in the dimming light.  
He knew what he had to do, even if it spoke directly against everything he learned and stood for. A knock on the door made him look up to meet Hans, the commander stood in the doorstep giving him a scanning look.

"Sir? What brings you here?" Phoebus asked as he cursed on the inside.

"I see you finished for today." Hans said as he walked inside closing the door behind him. Phoebus had a bad feeling, why was Hans here, and what did the man want? "I heard from some of the soldiers that you went to the dump again… seriously I can't understand why you would waste your time with those panhandlers?" Hans shook his head a chuckle leaving him. "But, I guess you never really left them in the first place." A dark glare was Hans's only response from the captain.

"You seem to be in a good mood, sir." Phoebus said in a cold tone "Any specific reason for that?" Hans raised an eyebrow at him before he looked out the window to see the vessel of the Bewilderbeast like a darker shadow against the water. "Hiccup's too late, and they will all hang by the neck tomorrow." A smirk grew on Hans lips.

"Sir?"

"You didn't actually expect me to let them get any chance to actually save their friends?" Hans looked back to him smirk growing. "It's called to get two birds with one stone, captain. I knew from the very moment I got a hold of the Deadly Nadder that he would come to their rescue, as sentimental as he is."

"Why do you want him dead so much? Did he plunder you or something?" Phoebus asked, he did not know what had happened between the two, but he knew they had history together. Hans studied him for a moment searching for something, if he found it or not Phoebus never knew.

"Something like that." Hans said and looked back to the window.

"Was there something you wanted, sir, or can I go?" Phoebus made it look like he tried to stifle a yawn, even though he was very alert and awake.

"Yes, there is one more thing." Hans said turning to him fully. "There will be one hanging tomorrow that are unlike the others." Phoebus looked at him with confusion. "…and if you're having bad luck that rope could make itself friendly with _your neck_." Hans's eyes darkened and his voice cold at the end and a threatening air came from him making it almost hard to breathe. Phoebus swallowed trying to stay calm and unfazed, but it was hard under that glare that made Phoebus feel uncomfortable and twitchy.

"What are you implying, sir?" he asked instead, surprising himself with how calm he sounded "I told you earlier today, that my loyalty is to the crown." He cleared his throat before he took on his coat from where it hung. "Now if you'll excuse me, sir, I am going home." Hans nodded at that.

"Good." He said and Phoebus nodded and walked and just when he was about to pass Hans, the man grabbed hold of his arm making him stop, he gave the commander a confused, but also slightly nervous look.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a hiss

"You're not of the hook yet." Hans said in a voice that implied he knew something that Phoebus didn't and that made him feel uneasy all over again, he held a neutral face as he looked into the green eyes of his superior.

"Why am I on the hook to begin with, sir?" Phoebus asked in a neutral voice, not betraying the worry inside.

"Well, I have many reasons but if you are going home, as you told me, captain, why don't you take your bag with you?" Hans pointed to the desk where Phoebus bag lied; the one he used to move paperwork's from the office to home if he needed it, or the other way around when they were done, he usually took it with him even if he didn't have any paperwork's.  
Phoebus pulled himself free from Hans grip to give him a glare, the man just raised an eyebrow at him looking smug and plotting.

"I had a lot on my mind." Phoebus spat as he walked back taking the bag and threw it over his shoulder before he walked so that he stood in front of Hans. "Any _specific_ reason as to _why_ you honour me with your presence, **sir**?" he was growing tired of this. Hans gave him a once over before the commander before he stepped out of the way, Phoebus began to walk towards the door and just when he opened it Hans spoke again.

"I'm watching you, Phoebus." His voice was cold and knowing "Don't do something stupid." Phoebus turned to stare at him. Hans turned around giving him a smile. "But if you're going home what do you have to fear?" Phoebus felt cold all of a sudden, he gave Hans a smile, but he wasn't sure if he had succeeded with it or not.  
He walked down the corridors and stone stairs what was Hans trying to do, scare him? Or did he know what he was planning to do?

He tried to calm himself when he walked home, taking deep breaths. He stopped at his house, it wasn't big; a two story building, one big room on the first floor, along with kitchen and bathroom, then on the second level was his room and an office. He closed the door behind him and collapsed against it grasping for breath, he stood there for several minutes before he managed to move again, he dropped the bag in the office before he walked to his bedroom and changed out of the marine uniform, he searched his wardrobe and in the very back he found what he locked for, a blue out washed long sleeved shirt and brown breeches, he changed and then ate a fast dinner before he left the house.

It was dark outside, and stars filled the pitch black sky, he moved in the shadows of the houses. A few people were out at this hour so the risk of being seen was low; he flinched when someone poked him in the back where he sat crunched behind a barrel. He turned his head around to find himself facing Jamie; the boy had a plaid over his head and shoulders and gave Phoebus a wondering look.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"I told you before that I can't do anything, about the hanging as a marine, but on my own I can do something."

"What are you gonna do?"

"Free them. Jamie, I need to ask you a favour." The boy shone at that.

"Yes!" Phoebus shushed him and cast a look around. "What do you need me to do?" Jamie asked.

"If something happens to me, I need you to tell the Night Fury's captain that the hanging has moved."

"How do I know if something happened?"

"Follow me, and I will tell you." They began to move and Phoebus stopped when they got to the white wall of the fort and he searched a bit before he found what he looked for.  
The trap-door.  
He pushed it open getting a shower with dust and stones over him.

"Woah, I didn't know it was there." Jamie said in awe. Phoebus looked at him

"Okay Jamie, I need you to wait here, stay hidden, if things go as I want, I will come back here along with the Deadly Nadder. If I don't return before sunrise, go and find the captain of the Night Fury and tell him that Hans has moved the hanging earlier than said." He said and looked at Jamie, "Can you do that?" he nodded. "Good." Phoebus looked around before he walked inside, closing it behind him giving Jamie a nod.

If Phoebus remembered right, he was under the armoury at the moment, he moved around searching for the ladder, he found it and began to climb it, it complained under him from its lack of use. He felt with his hands in the darkness and soon found the thinner stone that covered the hole in the ground where he was. He pushed and it moved, another shower of dust fell over him and he fought back a sneeze. He looked around and found no one; he pushed the stone away and began to crawl up to the floor. He moved it so that it was almost covering the entrance. Before he moved to the door to the armoury. He opened it slowly, a silent creak left the hinges. It was dark in the corridor, only some torches covering the walls he looked around, no one in sight; that was perfect.

He opened the door down to the chambers and closed it behind him as he walked down the stairs, he heard mostly snores from the other prisoners, he sank down in front of Nana scratching her behind the ear she gave him a smile at that, and he took the keys, she didn't mind, she trusted him. Phoebus moved to the cell where the crew of the Deadly Nadder was kept. The moonlight that fell in thru the window illuminated the cell and silhouetted the crew in darkness.

" _Max_." he hissed out, getting a mutter from one of them, Maximus sat up and looked at him with tired eyes before confusion tool over.

"Phoebus? What are you doing here?" he asked sleep still in his voice.

"Hans is not gonna wait till the summer solstice, he will hang you tomorrow." Phoebus said looking at them

"That lying two faced, son of a half-troll, rat-eating; munge-bucket." Astrid spat out, she was awake as well now, and the rest of the crew followed her example in waking.

"You didn't answer my question Phoebus." Maximus said. Phoebus took out the key ring and began to try and find the right key.

"I'm gonna get you out."

"Are you out of your mind!?" Maximus hissed getting to his feet walking up to the bars. "You worked far too hard for getting this high in the ranks, and now you're just gonna throw it away? Because of us." Phoebus stopped before he looked at Maximus.

"I can't bear to see you hanged by the likes of _him_." Phoebus said and started to search for the keys again. "So if I have to choose a side, I will not choose his."

Someone cleared their throat behind him.

"I'm glad you finally spoke the truth, _captain_." The keychain crashed against the floor when Phoebus spun around on his heel to find himself face to face with Hans and a couple of guards.  
The commander had the most vicious smile on his lips that Phoebus ever seen. Phoebus found himself reaching for the knife in his belt. "This gentlemen, is why offspring from the dump should never be given chances to become something bigger than what they are. They have a way of betraying the ones they are to follow, just as much as lying and stealing." Hans said Maximus gave away a growl at that grabbing around the bars sending a death glare at the commander.

"Phoebus." Maximus said. "Don't throw your life away like this." He hissed.

"Oh Maximus, it's already too late for redemption for this panhandler." Hans sneered before he gestured to Phoebus. "Seize him."

Silence expect for the splash of the oars that moved the dinghy towards the shore, Aster held the oars while Nicholas, Eugene and Merida sat going thru a plan among themselves in hushed voices about how they were going to take the Deadly Nadder from the Marines. Aster stopped when they were on shallow water, Nicholas stepped out from the boat first; the water reaching up to his knees; he held the boat still while Eugene and Merida left it as well.

"Be careful." Aster said when they got onto land, Eugene emptied his boots from the water before he smirked.

"Don't worry about it, I know this city as well as my own pocket." Aster grunted at that, before he started to row back towards the Bewilderbeast.

When he was back onboard the ship started to move and disappeared out to deeper waters and out of sight from land.

Phoebus grunted when he was dragged into a cell and got his arms bound over his head to a shackle in the wall. Hans waved the guards away in an uncaring motion, before he sank down on his heels in front of Phoebus holding Phoebus knife in his hand.

"I warned you _captain_. Not to do anything stupid." He said as he moved Phoebus knife in his grip, studying the blade with an uncaring look. "You disappoint me; you had a really promising and potential career despite being a panhandler." Phoebus wanted to hit him, but he could only clench his fists as his arms wouldn't budge behind the shackle. Hans kept talking, but Phoebus stopped listening, glaring at the wall, but his attention was brought back by a cold touch on his cheek from the blade of the knife, he felt the edge against his skin. "You better listen to what I tell you Phoebus, or things will get bloody." Phoebus glared at him and forced his teeth together not saying a word. Hans frowned and pressed the knife harder against Phoebus cheek; making small drops of blood appear, the drops grew and soon made a line be created where metal connected with skin.

"It's not like it won't get bloody anyway." Phoebus spat out, jerking his head away so it was resting against the stone wall. Hans gave him an unamused look. "The captain of the Night Fury what was it he took from you that made you hate him so much and go so low as to do something like this in order to get revenge on him!?" Phoebus winched when the knife sliced up a deep wound on his cheek, he felt how blood welled out from it running down to his jaw and down along his throat. He glared at Hans who gave him an amused look.

"You are to hang by the neck tomorrow, but that doesn't mean I can't have some fun with you before that." Phoebus saw something in Hans's eyes that made fear paralyze him, then the pain.  
Burning pain in his shoulder.  
He choked on his own breath his nostrils flared as he tried to keep himself from screaming, as Hans twisted the knife that still was embroidered in Phoebus shoulder. The blue shirt turned purple before it turned dark so very dark at the wound, Hans took out the knife and dried of the blood on Phoebus hair.

Jamie sat at the trap-door and waited, he tried to stay awake but soon fell asleep next to it, hidden by the high grass. He only woke up again when a wet nose started to sniff at him, and he found himself eye to eye with an olive eyed, grey bunny. It gave him a confused look but when he moved it flinched and disappeared into the grass. Jamie sat up with a tart the sky was bright.

"Phoebus?" Jamie asked out, looking around, but he didn't find any signal that the man was there, that only meant one thing… he had gotten captured. Jamie stared at the trap-door before he scrambled to his feet. He needed to find the captain of the Night Fury, fast!

He began to run towards the harbour, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the gallows and the nooses that the hangman fixed he swallowed hard before he kept running, and stopped at the harbour, he looked around, Phoebus had said that the Night Fury was supposed to be in the waters outside, but he could only see the ships the marines had and small fisher boats, and the Deadly Nadder. What was he to do? He faltered there he stood, before he noticed someone on the Deadly Nadder that clearly wasn't a marine. He ran up towards the former pirate ship.

"H-Hello!" he asked out, when he had walked onboard from the gangplank, the deck creaked under him, he looked around not seeing a soul. He walked further, a muffled sound from behind one of the doors made him move towards it, he opened the door slowly. "Anyone in here?" he took a step inside and saw how three marines lied bound and gagged on the floor out knocked. A dark shadow then fell over him and he turned around slowly to find himself facing a big man. He gave away a frightened squeak and stumbled back falling over his own feel and fell to his back on the floor but sat up fast. "Please don't hurt me!" he cried out.

"Hurt you? Ach child, why would I do that?" Jamie looked up at him in confusion.

"You won't hurt me?"

"Why would we hurt ye, wee lad?" a female voice asked, she appeared next to the man, her orange hair seemed to glow in the rising sun. Jamie got to his feet again. And looked at them with searching eyes.

"Are you crew of the Night Fury?" he asked.

"Yes." The man said. "Why ask?"

"I need to speak with your captain, it's really important!"

"Why do you want to talk with Hiccup?" the woman asked "Who are you anyway?"

"Jamie?" he blinked at the third voice, and the woman and man turned to a third man who stood out on deck, a man Jamie recognized.

"Eugene!" he called out running past the man and woman to throw himself in Eugene's arms, the man gave away a surprised sound before he spun around to not lose his balance.

"Jamie look at how much you're grown but what are you doing here?"

"He said he need to talk to Hiccup." The big man said, Eugene looked down at Jamie who still was in his arms.

"Jamie what is it?" Jamie looked up at him.

"Phoebus told me that if something went wrong I had to find you and your captain."

"Wait Phoebus?" Jamie nodded. "Jamie, what's going on?" Eugene asked worry filling his voice.

"Phoebus told me Hans has moved the Hanging till today!" Jamie cried out.


	49. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48**

When Aster returned to the Bewilderbeast and the dinghy was taken up from the water the ship began to move, when the vessel was hidden from view from the harbour and fort. The night was still young, and it was too early to move out, Rapunzel made a midnight snack for everyone, while they tried to come up with a strategy on how to free the crew of the Deadly Nadder.

When the sky turned pink in the east; they move out: Rapunzel, Tadashi, Eret and Hiro, left the ship, Hiccup looked after them, while Jack still arguing for Hiccup to accept his help. Hiccup still didn't like it, but he was weak against Jack's puppy eyes, and Jack knew it, which why was he was currently arguing with him having them on blinking up at Hiccup.

The dinghy floated silently towards the shore on the eastern side of the Marine fort. Eret pulled the boat further up on shore keeping it from being taken by the tide before he looked at the others.

"What now?" he asked.

"If I remember correctly the fort is full of tunnels and trap-doors." Rapunzel said and began to draw in the damp sand, she drew the fort from above, and then pointed out where they were. "We're here, and if I remember correctly the chambers are supposed to be here." She pointed at a part on the drawn map.

"So… we go there, find the chambers and then free them, and get out the same way we got in." Hiro said.

"It is not that easy, what do we do about the guards?"

"Knock them out, killing them is not an option." Rapunzel said in a demanding voice. They all nodded, before they began to move.

The sky was brighter when they began to sneak into the marine fort. The Fort was silent, not many guards, those they met was easily knocked out by a surprise attack.

They found the door to the chambers when the sun had risen over the horizon. The chambers was dim, only light from the windows fell in, and they were on the shadow side. Rapunzel looked around and blinked when she saw the dog, who looked at them, and started to growl. Hiro eyed it in worry. But Rapunzel moved towards it, and soon had the dog's tail thumping against the stone floor when Nana lied on her back showing her stomach. Rapunzel took the keys from her and gave them to Tadashi. Rapunzel stood up and Nana gave away a content sigh stretching out on the floor.

"Astrid?" Rapunzel asked silently when they took a torch from the wall to cast light into the cells, most prisoners groaned at the light, but then they found them. "Astrid." Rapunzel said when she saw the blond female captain.

"Rapunzel?! What are you doing here, you need to leave." Astrid got to her feet, her arm still in the sling to let her wounded shoulder heal.

"What why?" Astrid cast a look towards the door, she looked skittish and jumpy.

"Hans has moved the hanging till today! If he find you here-" she was cut off by Hiro who snatched the keys from Tadashi and jammed the key into the keyhole.

"Then we have to get you out now." It was a miracle that he got the right key at once and the door gave away a loud complain when it opened, making Rapunzel wince. The crew got to their feet.

"Astrid, we got a new member to our crew, and I want you to meet-" Rapunzel gestured to Eret, but before she had time to say anything Astrid's face darkened.

"You-!" she said and punched Eret in the face, making him topple backwards.  
Rapunzel grabbed a hold of Astrid; mindful off the wound.

"No, Astrid, _stop_."

"Why?!" Rapunzel got a glare from the female captain. "He's from the Nightmare Dragon!"

"He's a friend, and a member of the Night Fury." Astrid gave her a bewildered look before she gestured to Eret who mas massaging his jaw giving her a tired look before she sighed in defeat.

"Sorry. But I won't trust you." She said, Eret nodded at that.

"I don't ask you to."

"Hiro, can I get the key?" Maximus asked Hiro looked up at him giving him a confused look.

"Why?"

"I need to free my friend." He said in a pleading tone. Hiro held out the keys. "Lunar." He called and the doctor of the Deadly Nadder followed him. Maximus moved fast to the cell he knew Phoebus been thrown into.

Maximus felt himself grow cold when he saw him, Phoebus sat slumped against the wall, arms fastened over his head, his blond hair hung down over his face. He opened the door and hurried inside, kneeling in front of the man.

"Phoebus." He said, and placed his hand on the man's face, he flinched and the blue eyes opened to stare at him, with a feverish gloss over them. Phoebus saw the cut on his cheek, the blood had coagulated at the wound and dried blood covered his cheek, but Maximus swallowed hard when he saw the darkness that was at Phoebus shoulder, and it was still wet. "Oh, god… LUNAR!" he called out and soon the doctor was next to him. Maximus took out the key and started to try and open the shackle. It clicked open and Phoebus down right collapsed, and a pained whine left him when his shoulder moved. Lunar cursed under his breath and began to take care of the wound, Maximus then helped Phoebus to his feet, the man was weak, from the blood loss and he used most of Maximus strength to keep himself on his feet. They left the cell, Maximus noticed how Astrid gave him a surprised look, before her face darkened with hate towards Hans. "I hope your escape plan can handle one more." He said looking at Rapunzel. She nodded a thin line at her lips.

"Let's go." Tadashi called from the stairs, where he had stood guard but also keeping Nana calm. He began to walk up the stairs, then the door was opened and he was faced with the sharp end of a sword.

"Well, well, well… look who we have here." The commander appeared from behind the guard who had his sword pointing at Tadashi chest. Tadashi backed down the stairs, hands in line with his head and a worried look on his face. "If it isn't some of the members from the Night Fury." Hans sneered.

"It's almost time, how do you expect to get onto shore?" Tip asked, Toothless standing behind her giving hiccup a begging look, to be allowed to come with him.

"Swimming." Hiccup said as a matter of fact before he looked to Toothless and shook his head. "No bud, you stay here."

"Swim..?" Jack asked slowly eying the water from there he stood at the railing. "Is it really safe, what about currents and all that?" he looked to Hiccup who was making sure everything was stuck.

"There are no currents here." Hiccup said not looking up before he gestured to a cliff further out. "After that piece of land there is, but not this close to land." He looked up seeing the worry in Jack's eyes and the nervous tenseness that he got when anxious. There was a slight twitch at his fingers that was around the staff and he noticed how the glow reacted, before he looked back to Jack who was eyeing the water again. "Jack, are you okay?" he asked. Jack looked back at him.

"I'm fine." That was said to fast. Hiccup squinted at him.

"You still don't have to come." Hiccup said and walked over to the railing, climbing over it so that he stood on the wrong side of it.

"No it's not that!" Jack said looking at him.

"Then there is something." Hiccup crossed his arms eyeing Jack who swallowed, linking his lips looking away before looking back at him again. "Jack… what is it?"

"I can't swim…" he mumbled out. Hiccup blinked and he heard how Aster snorted from where he stood leaning against the main mast trying to stifle his laughter. Tip glared at him, but Hiccup ignored him, he looked at Jack. "I want to come with you… but I…" his voice died out and he looked so embarrass about his lack in knowledge that it seemed like he just wanted to run.

"Jack, just hold onto me and everything will be fine. And why didn't you tell me sooner? I could have taught you how to swim." Hiccup said and smiled. He then jumped into the water with a loud splash.

"Hiccup!" Jack called out, searching the water before he saw Hiccup emerge from the water shaking his head before he looked up at him, his cloak bellowed out around him and his brown hair stuck to his head.

"Come on Jack you're turn!" Hiccup called. Jack swallowed before he climbed over the railing, he was trembling all over, no downright shaking; he stopped when he was over the railing gripping it so hard that his knuckles turned white. "That's it, good job, just a bit more!" Hiccup said encouraging from the water. "Jump backwards, I'll catch you." Hiccup called after a while, but he was not gonna stress him. Jack moved a bit standing stiff at the railing.

"Go on, ye can do it, _brother_." Aster said and smiled, Jack's head snapped up to stare at him. Brother?

"Come on Jack! Jump, I'll catch you." Hiccup called. Jack swallowed a nervous laugh breaking free before he just took a deep breath, forced his eyes closed and pushed himself away from the ship.

Gravity let go of him for a couple of seconds before she grabbed him with full force. Wet and coldness hugged around him and he on pure instinct tried to breath, getting water instead of air, a pair of strong hands grabbed a hold of him and he soon found himself hacking and coughing up water against Hiccup's chest, he clung to the older man weakly most of his mind on: trying to breath.

"You idiot, don't try and swallow the entire ocean." Hiccup said and stroked Jack's bangs away from his face as Jack opened his eyes looking up at him blinking rapidly to get the salt water away.

"I- sorry…" Jack hacked out in a pitiful voice.

"Don't be." Hiccup said in a chuckle. "Now, grab a hold of my shoulders and try not to drown me okay." Jack nodded taking a careful but strong grip of Hiccup's shoulders, Hiccup nodded and began to swim. Jack had hocked his staff around his arm to keep it with him, he looked down at the water that was still too deep for him to see the seabed, he looked towards the shore, it was filled with rocks sharp ones, just under one of the fort's walls, it was painted white from the salt of the ocean. Jack flinched when he felt something swim past his foot, and he pulled his legs towards his chest staring behind them, but didn't see anything.

"Seaweed." Hiccup said "There are no deep sea monsters here." He chuckled, but he sounded a bit tired.

"Am I to heavy?" Jack asked in worry, noticing that they wasn't swimming as fast as before, Hiccup shook his head and before Jack got a chance to react turned around so that he was on his back, Jack blinked down at him in surprise.

"I am just tired, it have been a long time since I swam, but don't worry about it." Hiccup began to kick with his legs and they gained speed.

"What are you doing?!" Jack asked, he had never seen anyone swim like this.

"Swimming, what does it look like?" Hiccup replied smirking, "It's a good way, if I get tired I can float like this." He stopped kicking and they kept floating in the direction they had moved, but slower, but they didn't really stop either. "Saves energy." He began to move again.

"But I thought…" Jack started.

"There are different ways of swimming, Jack. Some learn on their own and others are taught how to, so everyone swim in a different way." He kissed Jack on the mouth, a taste of saltwater was all he got in return, but also a bright blush on Jack's face.

The rocky shore was deep and the rocks was sharp and thin, seagulls shouted over them. Jack looked up towards the fort.

"I wouldn't want to fall down from there…" he mumbled out. Hiccup cast a look up wards.

"It's a bad idea." Hiccup said as they reached the shoreline, "You get a sharp end."

"Don't joke around." Jack said as he climbed up on the cliffs water pouring from his clothes. Hiccup chuckled as he followed shrugging violently like a wet dog sending a cascade of water to splash around him. "Hey!" Jack said moving his arms to protect his face. "You wet seadog." Jack laughed.

"Oh, what are you then?" Hiccup asked moving into Jack's personal space with a smirk earning a blush in return. "A catfish?" Jack snorted at that.

"I can't swim, remember, I would be a pretty pathetic catfish."

"Nah, you're not a catfish." Hiccup said taking Jack's face in his. "You're my snowflake." He kissed him deeper this time than he had before, Jack gave away a muffled sound as he hugged around Hiccup's neck, leaning into the kiss. The sound of drums made Hiccup break the kiss staring ahead his face darkening.

"Hiccup? What's wrong?"

"Schh." Hiccup hissed listening, his face serious as his eyes grew dark with hate. "That lying bastard." Hiccup growled out and began to walk rapidly along the cliffs.

"Hiccup, what's going on?" Jack ran to keep up with him.

"The hanging." Hiccup said "Hans has moved it."

"What?!" Jack said fear falling into his voice, "But, Rapunzel, Eret and Tadashi and Hiro went to get them out earlier!" Hiccup stopped right in his tracks all colour draining from his face. Jack ran into his back, noticing how stiff Hiccup had gotten. "Hiccup..?"

"He knew we would try and save them…" Hiccup started "It was a trap. Why didn't I realize it earlier! Why do I still trust his words?" Hiccup growled grabbing at his hair giving away a loud groan.

"If they started the drums, we got to hurry." Jack said as he walking past him dragging Hiccup with him by the elbow.

"How do you plan on getting them free before the executioner pulls the lever?" Hiccup asked letting himself be dragged ahead. Jack held his staff in his hand.

"With this." He smirked.

"Jack… you know you can't keep your powers going for too long."

"I'll be fine."

"Please… just don't overdo it."

"I won't I promise." Hiccup didn't look convinced.

Hiccup and Jack sneaked up alongside the fort, hidden by the cliffs, the sun shone brighter in the sky, but Jack stopped moving casting a look to the Deadly Nadder that still was in the harbour.

"Do you think they know?" he asked pointing at the ship.

"If they know that the hanging has moved?" Hiccup asked. Jack nodded. "I don't know…" he looked to the ship, but a blueish light made him look back to Jack, to see how he had created a shard of ice in his hand, he studied it for a moment before he smirked, holding it out towards Hiccup.

"Send them a signal, it will reflect the sunlight." Hiccup stared down at the ice, before he began to send the reflection towards the ship, it took a while before they got a reply. Yes they knew about the hanging and they asked in return when they were going to take out the Deadly Nadder from the harbour. Hiccup signalled for them to wait for the signal. He could literary see the sarcasm when he got the reply; what signal? He told them that they would know when they saw it.

The two began to move again, and the sound of drums grew louder the closer they got, along with the murmur of people talking. They found a glass free window and looked inside to the square, where the gallow stood. The executioner fixed the nooses that hung from the beam. Jack looked around and he elbowed Hiccup in the side when he saw them. The crew of the Deadly Nadder, Rapunzel, Eret, Hiro and Tadashi along with one more person, stood with irons around their wrists and ankles shackled together by chains, they were not alone other criminals stood in line before them. He heard how Hiccup made a sharp intake of breath. A marine stood at the window and Jack flinched when he noticed how he turned, he pulled Hiccup down behind the window with him.

"What do we do?" he hissed, only loud enough for Hiccup to hear. "We need to do something before they get hanged…" they tensed when one of the marine officers began to talk.

 _"In order to affect a timely halt to worsening conditions, and to ensure the common good, a state of emergency is declared for these areas, by decree, according to martial law, the following laws are temporarily modified: Right to assembly, suspended."_

They then heard the pull of the lever and the sound of rope straining alongside the rattle of chains suddenly not held up by the wood. Hiccup noticed how Jack paled at the sound and how he gripped the staff harder making frost turn to ice closes to his hand. Hiccup placed a hand on his shoulder, mouthing that it would be fine. He cast a look up over the stone edge, trying to find the one who caused this, and found him. Hans stood with a satisfied look on his face, but he still looked annoyed about something, and Hiccup could phantom a picture on what it was Hans wanted more than this. To see Hiccup hanging from a noose and having the compass in his power once again.

Rapunzel looked at Phoebus in worry, he had gotten extremely pale now when he was forced to stand, and the fact that he had both hand in irons put pressure on the wound, Eret and Maximus helped him stay on his feet, the best they could without getting a shout from one of the marines who stood along the sides weapons ready, if anyone tried anything. Astrid tried to keep her youngest crewmembers calm, even if she knew it was a lost cause. Hiro clung to Tadashi and Tadashi held a protective hold of his younger brother. The line moved when the first group of prisoners was forced up on the gallow, the executioner put the nooses around their necks as an officer began to speak.

"In order to affect a timely halt to deteriorating conditions, and to ensure the common good, a state of emergency is declared for these territories by decree, according to martial law, the following statutes are temporarily amended: Right to assembly, suspended." At the last word the executioner puled the lever and the trap-doors fell open making the prisoners fall to a clear and fast death, the rattle of chains and the straining sound of the ropes was heard. Hiro hid his face in Tadashi's side while Heather gave away a broken sob looking down at the stone floor. The officer began to talk again as the line began to move again. "Right to habeas corpus, suspended." The lever was pulled again. "Right to legal counsel, suspended." And again. "Right to verdict by a jury of peers, suspended." And once again.

Astrid stood stiff and emotionless in front of the stairs to the gallow. She glared at the officer in front of her, but inside her feelings was in a turmoil, where was Hiccup, he said he would come. Her fear spoke, making her wonder if he had gotten caught by marines.

"By decree, all persons found guilty of piracy, or aiding a person convicted of piracy, or associating with a person convicted of piracy, shall be sentenced to hang by the neck until dead." The officer spoke as the crew of the Deadly Nadder and Night Fury along with Phoebus was pushed up to the gallows. Hiro cast a worried glance up to the noose, it didn't reach. He cast a look to Tadashi to see that his face was in a mask of no emotion, but his eyes betrayed him. Hiro took a sharp intake of breath when the executioner lifted him up on a barrel, and put the noose around his neck. He looked out over the ocean of people, and he felt fear grow inside him. he saw how the executioner moved to pull the lever, but just as he was about to, a flash of blue and white filled the air and ground along with a cold gust of wind, Hiro forced his eyes shut and when he blinked them open he saw how everything was covered in a thick layer of ice, sharp spikes standing out towards the marines who stumbled backwards in fright,, the nooses had been cut off by sharp shards of ice that had flung thru the air and the irons was frozen he jerked with his hands and the chain and irons was snapped apart. He heard how the others did it as well.

The murmur of witchcraft and magic filled the air, Hans stood up from the chair he had been sitting on to stare towards the door, where a line of ice went in a zigzag motion along the stone plates on the floor, the ocean of people had split in two by the ice, that glowed in a bright blue and made the air haze. Oh he recognized this ice, oh how well he recognized it.


	50. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49**

Hiccup watched from the window how group after group of prisoners got hanged as the officer spoke, and after each hanging he felt Jack go more rigid against his hand that still rested on his shoulder.

Silence fell over the square and Jack looked up thru the window again pale and he gasped when he saw who were pushed up to the gallows, a crack came from the staff, as the blue glow grew in strength. Hiccup cast him a worried look, and then patted him on the shoulder.

"Let's move." He said and hunched his way past Jack who followed. The officer talked again and Hiccup listened as he moved along the cliffs until they reached the road.

 _"By decree, all persons found guilty of piracy, or aiding a person convicted of piracy, or associating with a person convicted of piracy, shall be sentenced to hang by the neck until dead."_

The big arch that made the entrance to the square was empty of people, everyone who was interested in the hanging and knew about the news was inside, the only people who stood at the entrance was two guards that Hiccup quickly knocked out. Jack looked inside and grew stiff when he saw how Hiro was lifted up on a barrel by the executioner and got a noose around his neck.  
No child would have to be up there!  
Before Jack had time to think he slammed his staff into the ground, and a flash of blue filled the air;  
Ice shot out; moving along the stones, that made the floor, in a zigzag motion, when it reached the gallows it shot out like an explosion; freezing the trap-doors shut in a blueish ice and made the irons and chains extremely weak, sharp ends of the ice pointed towards the marines, and everything happened in such a short notice, in the blink of an eye the gallows got covered in thick ice that seemed to be alive and had a dangerous air around it.

The citizens cried out and stumbled into two groups on either side, divided by the ice that had given away a cold gust of wind and snowflakes fell slowly towards the ground.  
The Marines in turn stumbled backwards when the sharp ends of the ice appeared in front of them. While the crew at the same time freed themselves from the chains and took of the cut nooses.  
Everyone's eyes fell back to the opening of the square, to the arch where Jack and Hiccup stood;  
Jack held the staff with both hands leaning on it, his eyes full of disgust towards Hans, but he was feeling a bit worn out after the big use of magic. Hiccup had his arms crossed over his chest looking everyone in the square over, before his eyes landed on Hans.

"Citizens of Corona, I have no business with you, leave!" Hiccup shouted out loud enough that everyone heard him; the group of people moved out quickly, avoiding both Hiccup and Jack as they left in a fast stream. "You okay?" he asked Jack silently, Jack send him a grin in return and nodded.

"So you actually decided to show up." Hans said there he stood clapping his hands in a slow applaud. "I must say I wonder what witch you had to take from to get this ice magic, Captain of the Night Fury." He gestured to the ice; that hadn't even started to melt. "Did you bring the ice queen with you from Arendelle?" Hiccup glared at him.

"I am here to take back my crew and free my friends! Not to talk about magic." Hiccup said as the members of the Deadly Nadder and Night Fury climbed down from the gallows and began to move towards Hiccup and Jack. One marine tried to stop them, but a spike of ice shot up from the ground and changed form to look like a cobra, it hissed at him, making the marine stumble backwards with a terrified yelp, the ice snake hissed loudly as more appeared from the sides of the path that the ice had taken to the gallows, keeping the marines in check, creating a free path for the crew.

"I'd advise you to stay away, they bite." Jack said loudly, twisting the staff against the ice, the staff glowed like the beating of a heart into the ice which gave the snakes life, their eyes icy and glowing in a bright blue colour.

The two crews got up to them; Astrid was looking at Hiccup with a tired but grateful smile on her lips.

"What took you so long?" She asked with smirk gently punching him on the arm before she looked at Jack who was still keeping his eyes on the marines. "I see you got him back."

"Yeah, and sorry it got to such a close call."

"Hans is a lying rat-eating; munge-bucket, it wasn't your fault." She said before she cast a look towards Maximus and Eret who helped Phoebus move, he was still too weak to walk on his own.

"Who's that?" Hiccup asked looking at the blond man.

"His name is Phoebus, he's one of Maximus old friends; he's a marine, but I think he has a pretty big ex on his title right now." Eret said slowly Hiccup raised an eyebrow at his red and swollen cheek.

"Right, but what happened to you then?" Hiccup asked; Eret blinked before he opened his mouth to speak but Astrid cut in before he was able.

"I kind of hit him… before I knew that he was a part of your crew…" Astrid said in an apologetic tone.

"Okay…" Hiccup said slowly, before he looked at the crew. "Get to the Deadly Nadder, Aster will meet you with the Bewilderbeast further out."

"How? Our ship is full of Marines." Astrid said.

"That is taken care of, Eugene, Nicholas and Merida will meet you there, and wait for the signal."

"What signal?" they all asked. Hiccup sighed.

"You will know when you see it, now go." Astrid frowned at him, but nodded anyway as they began to move towards the harbour.

When the crew's left Hiccup returned his attention towards the gallows and marines, he unsheathed his sword and the flame flared up in a bright yellow colour, a stark contrast to the blue glow that came from Jack's staff. Hans glared at them.

"You didn't run with your tail between your legs, like last time I see." Hans said in a voice that made Jack feel an itch to punch him in the face.

"I didn't run." Hiccup said in a harsh voice. "But, tell me Hans, how in Odin's name did you get off that island?" Hiccup asked instead. Hans chuckled as something in his eyes grew dangerous.

"When you marooned me on that godforsaken spit of land, you forgot one very important thing Hiccup: I'm the thirteenth prince of the Southern Isles I have power." He gestured to the officers that stood on the ground held back by the ice snakes. "My father is the head of the marines; he's the king of the sea, they had no other choice but to let me board their ship."

"Still using your father's fame to mask your own greed..." Hiccup said in an unamused voice. "You haven't changed!"

"Oh I've changed." Hans said and smirked before he made a motion with his hand "Seize them!" he shouted as the marines began to move but the snakes got in their way with angry hisses and bit the air. Jack clicked his tongue as he moved his finger in a no, no motion.

"Didn't I tell you not to move?" the marines shared worried looks among each other as Hans growled in annoyance, he took up his gun and loaded it. Jack saw the movement at the side of his vision he heard the loading of the gun before he turned to face Hans; he saw how Hans was about to fire and the anger in his eyes.  
Jack brought his hands up to cover himself when the loud shot, of the fired gun echoed around them.

The staff clattered against the ground and the cracking, and singing of ice under pressure was heard.

Jack slowly blinked his eyes open, a big shard of ice had shot up from the ground in front of him and the bullet was frozen stuck in the clear ice, but cracks went all around it, showing that the bullet had hit the ice with a deadly force.  
Jack's breath hitched at the sight and his focus on the ice and snakes inside the square was broken, making the ice shatter and collapse to the stone floor and the snakes stiffened cracks covering their bodies before they collapsed in a heap of shards hastily melting in the sunlight. He only stared at the bullet that would have hit him in the chest if it weren't for the ice, surely killing him at once.  
He barely heard Hiccup's sharp intake of breath when he got to the same conclusion.  
Jack stumbled there he stood, the ice he'd made had been of instinct and without the help from the staff, ending up taking a bigger toll on him, than when he had the staff in his hand.  
He felt Hiccup place his hand on his back, giving him something to anchor against

"Jack..." he said, fear clear in his voice.

"I'm... I'm fine..." Jack said in a breathless voice, still trying to get his heart to calm from the panic that had taken him when he realized Hans had tried to shoot him, he bent down and picking up the staff from the ground, but collapsed to his knees instead of getting up. He didn't look fine, he was dishevelled and looked so tired like he would collapse if he used his magic once more.

Hiccup looked up at Hans who stood with a victorious smirk on his lips, and the marines were ready to attack, no longer held back by the ice snakes. The ice that held the bullet crashed to the ground when Hans spoke again.

"Gentlemen, apprehend them."

Hiccup got in a protective stance in front of Jack; who was still on the ground gasping for air.

"Jack." He said slowly.

"Give me a moment… and I'll be fine." Jack said slowly.

"I don't think I can give you that..." Hiccup replied eyeing the guards that moved towards them. He managed to keep them at bay, but realized too late that the officers was surrounding them.  
Jack got to his feet with the help of the staff eyeing the guards and marines with a cautious eye.

"You take the ones on the left... I take the ones on the right..?" he asked, Hiccup cast him a look.

"No more magic got that." He said Jack chuckled as he took the staff in both hands.

"Right." He said, standing back to back with Hiccup. "So... how are we gonna handle this, captain?"

"Still working on it..." Hiccup grunted out.

The marines charged, and Hiccup and Jack fought back dodging and blocking attacks, Jack saw how Hans smirked and left, he kicked one of the guards away.

"Hans is running away." He said to Hiccup who clashed swords with a marine.

"Of course he is!" Hiccup groaned in annoyance as he sent the guard stumbling backwards.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Jack knocked one guard out by slamming the staff on the guards head. "Rather, what are WE gonna do about it?" he asked "Let him run...?" he ducked when Hiccup blocked the attack of a sword, with his own sending the guard to the ground. "...or go after him?" Jack stood up facing Hiccup who looked at him raising one eyebrow as Jack knocked out he last guard when he placed his staff over his shoulder.

"Who taught you that?" he asked in surprise, Jack blinked and looked back to the out knocked guard, a smug look on his face.

"I...uh… That wasn't planned..." he stared at the out knocked guard as Hiccup burst out laughing.

Hans walked up the stairs casting a look back with satisfaction, but it was cut short when he saw how the guards lay out knocked around Hiccup and Jack.  
Fine then.  
It was clear he would have to handle this himself. He clapped his hands there he stood at the window, getting Hiccup and Jack's attention.

"I seem to have overestimated my officers..." he said "What now, Captain?" Hans sneered.  
Hiccup pointed his sword towards him and Jack pointed his staff as well.

"We'll bring an end to this." Hiccup shouted.

"Oh I'm so scared." The sarcasm was overflowing. "What will you do? Maroon me on a deserted island again?"

"No." Hiccup said "You will be brought to justice."

"Justice? Hiccup your naive immaturity amuse me." Hans laughed then he gestured with a wide motion "Have you forgotten? I **am** justice."  
Hiccup began to run towards the stairs, Jack followed close behind and Hans began to move further up the fort.

The wind whirled around them when they found themselves on the flat roof of the marine fort, a short fence went around the edge, reaching up to the ankles of a grown man.

"This ends now Hans." Hiccup said when he and Jack got up to the fort's highest level, the flat roof. It was empty of people, expect the three of them. Hans chuckled.

"You got nowhere left to hide." Jack said.

"Why should I hide when I got you exactly right where I want you?" Hans made a gesture to them. "You are in the heart of the marine fort, and not just any fort the headquarters more importantly, this is a one way trip, for both of you." He crossed his arms and raised his jaw in a mocking gesture "You can kill me, but where will you go when you done that? You are surrounded, the marines will get you when you two try to get back to your puny ship." Hiccup frowned but he knew Hans's words were true… as much as he hated to admit it.

"Let's settle this then." He took a step forward, gesturing for Jack to stay back. Hans smirked as he unsheathed his own sword studying the blade.

"It's a fine blade, do you recognise it, Hiccup?" Hiccup felt anger when he did, it was Astrid's sword. He had made it for her a long time ago. "But I guess the maker of such a fine sword would recognize his own creation." Hans looked at Hiccup and sneered, earning a glare in return.  
Hans then attacked and the two swords clashed. Hiccup fought back, the swords clashing and feet moving to keep the fast attacks up.  
Jack eyed them in worry, he was feeling better than he had done before, but he was still too weak for the big ice making.  
The clashes of swords were almost like a fierce dance between the two, and Jack found himself unable to look away.

Rapunzel looked back in worry when she heard the gunshot, but she couldn't go back there, she had to stay in order to check on both Astrid's and Phoebus's wounds.  
The road they took to the harbour was not the main one, doe to the fact that it was too dangerous, and they soon saw the Deadly Nadder in the harbour. Astrid cursed loudly when she saw her ship.

"Those damned rat-eating bastards! What did they do to my ship!?"

"They are making her into a marine ship." Rapunzel said sadly. "But don't worry, Nicholas and Sandy can make her back to the beauty she was before.

They got to the ship and Merida greeted them at the gangway.

"Hiccup seem to have gotten to ye in time." she said "did 'e say when we were to move out?"

"He told us to wait for the signal." Tadashi said. Merida sighed in annoyance.

"Did 'e tell ye what the signal was?"

"No…" they said in one.

Phoebus was moved into the galley, he grunted in pain when he was sat down on one end of the table. Rapunzel got the scissor and cut the shirt apart to get to the wound, Phoebus gave away a wounded sound when the shirt that had dried stuck against his skin was taken away. Lunar frowned at the sight of the wound, it was bad.

"By the moon." He growled as he ordered the members of both crews for things he and Rapunzel wound need to take care of the injury that Hans had done, but also to make a check up on Astrid's shoulder.  
Phoebus grimaced when Lunar cleaned the wound and he finally lost conscious. Maximus helped him stay in a sitting position on the table and held him closer when he lost consciousness. The blood was cleaned away from his chest, and face, and his hair was washed as well, to get the blood out. They dressed the wound in a bandage and then made a temporary bed for him where he could rest lying down, dead to the world and too far gone in the heavy sleep that was unconsciousness.

Astrid hissed lightly when Lunar cleaned the wound and dressed it with clean and new bandage, before making a sling for her arm to be in to rest her shoulder.

"What do we do now?" Eret asked as he looked towards Eret and Nicholas.

"We wait for signal." Nicholas said and looked towards the fort. "Hiccup said we will know it when we see it." Eret sighed as he sat down on the deck.

"So we wait, for something we don't know to wait for."

"Yeah." Eugene said "That is the best explanation-" but he was cut short when Rapunzel suddenly hugged him from behind, burrowing her head into his back. "What's wrong Punz?" he asked placing his hand on her wrist. Eret sighed

"It was a close call." Tadashi said as he leaned against the main mast, moving his hand to his neck. "Hans moved the hanging, and we got just in time for the party, Jack saved us just when the executioner were about to pull the lever..." Hiro nodded, as he sat down ion Eret's lap, getting a surprised sound from the older male, but he didn't push the boy away, Eret sighed as he leaned back on his arms.

"You okay kid?" he asked, the boy hadn't said a word since they left.

"Wha- yeah, I'm- I'm fine." Hiro hugged around his legs and looked down at the deck. Eret eyed him in doubt before he sighed.

"If we'd known that would have happened you would have stayed back on the Bewilderbeast." Eret said and ruffled the boys black hair.

"I'll be fine… but what about Jack and Hiccup?" he looked up towards the fort with worry in his eyes.

"They will be fine." Lunar came out from the galley smiling at him.

"How do you know?"

"I don't, but I have belief in them."

"How's Phoebus?" Eret asked.

"He's resting, Maximus and Astrid is watching over him at the moment."

"He will be fine right?" Hiro asked.

"Yes, he will be fine, Hans on the other hand, I am not a man of hate, child, but that man, I wish the worst kind of death to him."

"Just what did he do?" Tadashi asked "What history do Hiccup and Hans have?" Nicholas and Lunar sighed heavily

"It is long story, son." Nicholas said

"We got time, don't we?" he looked at them. "It's not like we can do anything else?" Nicholas and Lunar shared a look.

"Remind me when we are back on Bewilderbeast." He said.

The swords still clashed, the speed a bit slower than first, but other than that no change, Hans attacked, and Hiccup blocking Hans's fast attacks the best he could.

"I will kill you. The fat shipwright won't save you now, nor will that pest of yours or anyone else!" Hans said, as he kept attacking. Hiccup only growled in reply, blocking the attacks and pushing Hans back when he could. They split apart and Hans smirked, when he saw how tired Hiccup looked. "You apparently need to train your sword techniques more, Hiccup." Hans said and hooked Hiccups sword out of his hand. The sword clattered against the ground and the flames flickered, Hans pointed the end of the sword at Hiccup's throat, Hiccup took a step back eyeing the tip of the sword. "That wound I gave you, seem to have healed well." Hans said, eyeing the scar on Hiccup's chin. His eyes then fell on the compass. "Well, what do we have here, if it isn't _my_ compass?" Hans smirked and were about to cut it off but Hiccup was faster and backed away far enough for the sword to just go thru empty air.

"It's not yours and you know it!" Hiccup growled out. "Why is it so important to you?" Hans's eyes blazed in anger.

"That is none of your business!" He shouted attacking again, Hiccup dodged the attack.

"What is it you can't find on a map?" Hans growled in reply and attacked again, this time cutting into the peg leg, so much that it risked to snap, the sword got stuck in the wood. Hiccup flinched at the sudden change in balance, and he and Hans looked each other in the eye for a second, before Hans jerked the sword out from the peg leg making Hiccup loose his balance and fall to his back with a thud, losing his breath. Hans laughed.

"This bring back memories." Hans said and smirked. "You're small tools won't help you now." Hans moved towards Hiccup ready to deliver the final blow. "There's nothing that can save you now." He had forgotten about Jack, and when he was about to attack something hoked around his arm sending him swirling around and away from Hiccup. Hans managed to stop and found the end of a staff at his throat and a pair of a brown and blue eye glaring back at him.

"I'm still here." Jack said in a cold tone. Hans glared at him, hearing how Hiccup hissed out he white haired boy's name, and things clicked.

"You." Hans said in a dark voice before he smirked mockingly. "You're even more of an idiot than I first taught Hiccup, to let this member of the Nightmare Dragon to your crew." Jack's eyes widened before he squinted before he grabbed the staff harder, frost started to crawl around his naked feet and he glared daggers at Hans who smirked back, knowing he struck a vein.  
The staff glowed brighter.

"Jack!" Hiccup called out in warning "Don't, I told you no magic!" Jack forced his teeth together growling at Hans, before he just clenched his fist shut and punched Hans in the face.  
Hans toppled backwards with a pained cry, moving his hand to his face, and bleeding nose.  
Jack was still growling. Hiccup got to his feet, not putting too much weight on the peg leg, since he wasn't sure how much it could take at the moment. He placed his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Hey… calm down." Jack cast him a look, and Hiccup saw that Hans's comment, had riled Jack up quite badly.

Jack gestured to Hans with his free hand that has started to grow red at his knuckles where it had connected with Hans's face.

"Why don't you just let me freeze him?!" he barked.

"Because that much magic will take a great toll on you, and I do not want to put your life at risk." Hiccup said in a steady and serious voice.

"Oh… I see how it is." Hans said straighten his back and looked at them with a smirk, blood still running from his nose. "You never loved the female captain of the Deadly Nadder did you, Hiccup?" he laughed gesturing to them "Instead you fell for this freak."

"FREAK?!" Jack screeched in anger, about to attack Hans, but Hiccup's hand still on his shoulder held him back.

"Calm. Down." Hiccup ordered. Jack just sent him a desperate look, gesturing to Hans with both hands. "I know, Jack. He knows where it hurts, he always knows exactly what to say to rile someone up."

"Hiccup…" Jack said his voice vibrating with anger.

"I know, I know." Hiccup said, sinking down on one knee to check on the peg leg. "I know I told you no more magic, but could you make sure this piece of wood doesn't break?" Jack glared at him, before he sighed, moving the tip of the staff so that it touch the wood; a thick ice covered the cut and the wood around it, "Thank you." Hiccup said as he got to his feet, picking up his sword along the way before he pointed it at Hans.

"You're really up for round two?" Hans said and smirked when he continued "Why not let the misshapen creature help you?" Jack growled loudly in return still held back by Hiccup's hand

"Hans, I'm your opponent." Hiccup said getting in front of Jack.

Jack was frowning deeply; Hiccup and Hans was fighting again and all he wanted to do was just to freeze Hans alive and then push him over the edge to get friendly with the sharp rocks, but once again he was on the side-lines watching, he could fight, he could help!  
So why was Hiccup not letting him help!? Was it because it was a personal matter? Or did Hiccup really see him as weak and frail? Jack hated himself for even thinking that, he looked up towards Hiccup and Hans again, remembering what Hiccup had told him back on the Bewilderbeast.

"All this for a stupid compass?" he muttered, leaning against the staff, crossing his legs.

Jack stiffened when he heard a loud crack, and saw how the peg leg was cut apart, shards of ice flying around, Hiccup landed on his wrist, and Jack could hear the snap from where he stood, before he heard Hiccup's muffled cry of pain as he collapsed to his side cradling his wrist on his hand. Hans didn't seem to care about Hiccup's badly twisted wrist, because he raised his sword ready to stab.

"This ends now." Hans said as Jack dashed forward and knocked Hans sword out of his hands with the staff before he elbowed Hans hard in the chest, he heard a groan from the man, before a strong hand grabbed around his jaw and a thumb dug into the hollow of his cheek. Jack whined forcing one eye open to glare at Hans, who was looking furious. "You gotten in my way **one time to many**." He said and Jack flinched when he couldn't feel the ground under his feet anymore, he didn't have time to react before he was thrown to the side, he hit the ground hard on his side and began to roll, until he reached the small stone fence, his left arm and head fell over the edge and began to dangle, his staff clattered against the ground. Jack had hit his head badly when he connected with the ground and got knocked out, he didn't hear Hiccup's cry out his name in fear and panic, nor Hans laugh with bloody humour.

Hiccup stared at Jack in fear, not seeing how Hans lifted up the staff holding it in his hands, seeming disappointed that it didn't glow, he frowned down at it, when it acted just as normal wood to his touch.

"Useless." He said dropping the staff before he stepped on it, a loud snap and the staff was split in two. Hiccup looked back to him when he heard the wood snap and he gasped.

"You-" he croaked out. Hans looked at him and smirked as he kicked the broken pieces away.

"It was useless." He then bowed down and grabbed a hold of Hiccup's jaw, earning growl in return, "I wonder…" he pulled Hiccup to his foot, moving his other hand to Hiccup's throat. "…how would you look with a noose, tightly squeezing around your beautiful neck?" At the last word he squeezed, Hiccup gave away a choked sound grabbing a hold of Hans's wrist, twisting it between his hands, glared at him.

"Kill me and it will be the last thing you do." Hiccup managed to croak out as he kicked himself up from the ground putting all his bodyweight on Hans's hand, making the man loose his balance, and they crashed to the ground, Hiccup got Hans under him and held him down. "Don't you dare move." Hiccup growled out. "Jack!" he then called out, casting a look back towards where Jack lied limp.

Jack groaned blearing his eyes open, what met him was the blurry sight of waves crashing against the sharp cliffs and rocks, he felt all colour drain from his face as he stiffened, a strange empty feeling was in his chest, but he didn't know the cause of it.

"Jack!" he blinked when he heard Hiccup call and he moved his hand that still was on the fort to lift himself up back over the edge, he grunted slowly crawling up to all four sitting down on his heels. He shook his head trying to get his vision to clear but winched and moved his hand to his head to feel something sticky touch his fingers, he looked back to his hand to find it covered in blood. "Jack!" Hiccup called again, right, Hiccup had called him. Jack turned his head to find the captain of the Night Fury clamp Hans to the ground. His eyes then caught the sight of the broken staff lying closer to him.  
Oh…  
For some reason the empty feeling he felt suddenly got an answer; but he didn't know how or why.

"Oh thank the gods you're okay... not as okay as I'd wish you'd be… but still alive." Hiccup said when he saw the blood that coloured Jack's temple, ear and ran down his neck to colour the white fabric of his shirt. Jack got to his feet, but stumbled there he stood, the world suddenly began to spin violently, he heard Hiccup say his name in fright, Jack forced himself to walk forward, not to risk falling over the edge.  
The word stopped spinning after a while, and when it did he noticed he had fallen to his knees at the staff, maybe his balance wasn't as good as he had hoped… his train of thoughts was cut short when he saw how Hans took out a knife. He barely managed to voice a warning before Hans jammed the knife into Hiccup's left tight. Hiccup cried out in pain losing his grip of Hans and soon found himself with Hans's hands around his throat again. Hiccup glared up at him, but Hans had a mad smirk on his lips.

"You **will** not leave this place alive." He said in a chuckle, squeezing tighter. Hiccup gasped for air, clawing at Hans's hands, and tried to push him away. Jack grabbed the pieces of the staff, it didn't glow anymore at his touch, but a light layer of frost was created where his fingers were touching the wood he tried to get the two pieces to fit by putting the broken edges together, but nothing happened and he only seemed to make things worse.

"J-Jack!" Hiccup managed to choke out. Jack looked up, too fast; the world began to spin again and he groaned gripping his head, not caring about that his hand got covered in blood. He needed to help Hiccup, but trying to get to his feet only ended up with him collapsing to the ground before he even got his feet under him.

Hiccup was starting to see black spots in his vision, and his lounges burned form the lack of oxygen, he could feel his power weaken but also hear how Hans laughed, finally getting what he wanted. Hiccup gaped like a fish on land, before he forced his eyes shut. "JACK!" he shouted out his voice cracking in the middle as he fainted form the lack of oxygen going limp in Hans hold.

Jack looked up and despite his blurry vison he saw everything clearly, he saw Hans and Hiccup's limp form, dead. Anger flared up in his chest, and when his juggled brain connected what Hans done to Hiccup, a possessive feeling joined the anger and he wasn't sure all the feelings that merged together inside him was.  
Jack grabbed the pieces of the staff harder, not noticing how they had started to glow.

"Don't-" Jack mumbled out getting to his feet the pieces of the staff exploded out in a bright blue light, as his eyes began to glow white as his hair flew out around him form a strong gust of freezing cold wind, making his clothes flutter around him, the air began to vibrate from the sudden change in temperature; frost began to cover the stones, and then ice making the stones crack. The air cracked and lightning flashed now and then  
Jack forced the pieces of the staff together, and the light grew brighter, clouds appeared quickly in the sky swirling around like a cyclone, snow began to fall fast and hard and ice shot from the ground like living vines breaking the fort where they hit it and grew out from. "Don't-" Jack mumbled out again as the snow turned to hail, and the wind picked up. "Don't Hurt _My Hiccup_!" Jack shouted and the storm was a fact.  
Hans stared with big eyes filled with fear, he had let go of Hiccup's throat to end up staring at the storm that grew in front of him. Hiccup bleared his eyes open slowly and gasped and coughed for air when the grip no longer was there and he got free airways.  
The wind howled in anger as the vines was blown to bits, making the air full of sharp shards of ice, Hans hissed out in pain as one cut up a wound on his back tearing at his clothes and several cuts on his face and body. Hiccup blinked his eyes clear and he stiffened, turning so that he lay on his side staring at Jack with wide eyes.

"Jack!" he called out in fear. The storm was out of control. He forced his legs to move and soon he got to his knees, but a strong gust of wind pushed him back down. "Jack!" Hiccup called again moving his hands to protect his face from the shards as he began to crawl on all four. He stiffened when he heard the click of a gun getting loaded, he turned his head to glare at Hans, who had the gun pointed at him. "Are you out of your mind?!" Hiccup shouted at him.

"You're not leaving this place alive." Hans shouted

"I'm trying to save your sorry ass, you ignorant bastard!" Hiccup spat back as a shard bigger than the others whacked the gun away, making Hans accidentally fire, but the bullet hit the ground and dug into the stones, Hans stared at his hand where a big gash had been cut open by the shard of ice.  
Hiccup ignored him as he turned back his interest towards Jack. He moved closer, the wind getting stronger. "Jack!" he called out again, cuts appearing on his arms and face from the small shards of ice. He felt how the stones shook under him.  
Damn the fort was gonna collapse!  
Pain shot from his leg where Hans had stabbed him, but he ignored the pain the best he could, he needed to get to Jack before he could care about his own wounds. He then suddenly noticed how the wind stopped and he fell to his side when he didn't need to put force against the wind, but it wasn't because the wind had stopped, he had reached the eye of the storm, Jack stood with the two shards in his hands, the blue light shot between them like crazy and ice covered the ground around Jack's feet. It was silent, compare to the roar of the wind that still hummed as a memory in Hiccup's head "Jack." He said in a whisper, Jack blinked slowly, but nothing changed expect that. "Hey… it's okay… calm down."

"Don't hurt…" Jack mumbled out and Hiccup smiled weakly.

"Jack I'm fine… I'm alive." He placed his hands on Jack's cheeks. Jack's eyes began to close and Hiccup noticed how the glow began to grow fainter.

"…my Hiccup…" Jack mumbled out as he collapsed forward, the staff fell from his hands and shattered into millions of pieces as they hit the floor and the wind, ice and snow vanished in a blink of an eye, and so did the white colour of Jack's hair, and the brown took over once again, expect for some strays of hair that stayed white but they were few. Hiccup collapsed to the ground at the sudden gain of weight from Jack and he held him close, stroking the now brown hair away from his face, minding the wound.

"Yes… I'm yours…" Hiccup said and laughed. "My idiot of a fiancé." He chuckled out

The fort shook again and Hiccup cursed, he wouldn't be able to get down to the ground in time like this before the fort collapsed.  
What do to, what do to?!  
A seagull flew by him screaming in a language only the bird understood.  
Hiccup gathered Jack in his arms before he stood, looking back at Hans who was staring at him, looking even more tattered and worn than before.

"I'd advise you to get down from here." Hiccup said "You're father and brothers will probably be really disappointed about you destroying their marine fort." Hiccup backed towards the edge and looked down, there was less sharp rock there, but it would still hurt to land… damn it!  
He walked back a bit facing the edge.

"Wait! What are you planning to do?! Are you mad!?" Hans shouted out, hen Hiccup bound the coat to his bootstrap and peg leg

"Oh by Odin's beard I hope so, otherwise this wouldn't work." Hiccup said as he bang to run as the fort began to collapse under him, he jumped out over the edge, grabbing Jack closer to him, and felt the jerk when the coat caught the wind and he began to glide. He heard how the fort collapsed behind him, but he had his interests more on to not crash into the water at full speed, he was graceful that Jack wasn't conscious at this time, the kid would have been horrified.  
They slashed into the water several feet out from the fort, and Hiccup first now looked back to see the fort crash down into the water. He hissed at the saltwater entering the wound in his leg, but he held Jack close and over the surface. Jack groaned blinking his eyes open slowly.

"Hiccup..?"

"Yeah, I'm here." Jack mumbled something before he went limp again. Hiccup heard the splash of a ship moving towards them and he turned his head to see the Deadly Nadder come towards them.  
Eugene and Eret stood at the railing holding a rope in their hands, it dragged in the water for him to catch.

"I guessed that was the signal." Eugene said raising an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Do you two need a ride?" Eret asked as Hiccup and Jack was dragged on board, landing on the deck soaked in water.

"Not the signal I had in mind, but yes."


	51. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50**

Jack groaned and opened his eyes, what met him was complete blackness. He gave away a confused sound and moved his hand towards his face to try and figure out why he couldn't see, but ended up slapping himself instead.

"He's awake!" a tired male voice called out, he heard the shuffle of fabric and then steps.

"Jack?" that was Rapunzel's voice.

"Rapunzel?" he asked slowly, his voice slurred at the end, "why can't I see?" he got a laugh in return, before he felt how she placed her hands on the sides of his face and removed something that had been placed over his eyes, but it was still dark

"Because you still have your eyes closed." She said in a laugh. Jack frowned before he forced his eyes open, blinking up at her to clear his blurry vision. She smiled down at him. "There you go." She said and smiled bigger. "Now how many fingers?" she held two in his line of vision, Jack frowned at her

"4." he began to look around. "Where are we?"

"On the Deadly Nadder." She said in a slightly worried voice "Eugene and Eret fished you and Hiccup up from the water earlier today."

"Water?" that explained why his clothes were damp, why hadn't he noticed that the moment he woke up?

"You don't remember?" Rapunzel asked Jack shook his head slowly, his vison going blurry again "Hiccup jumped from the fort when it collapsed, and landed himself and you safely in the water."

"He did WHAT?!" Jack bolted upright there he lied on the floor of the Deadly Nadder's galley but the world spun violently and he felt how his stomach lurched. He registries how Rapunzel held a bucket at him and that it had a foul smell, he fell back on the bed with a grimace and the world was spinning, making him want to throw up again.

"Don't move. You hit your head quite badly." Rapunzel said placing her hands on his shoulders giving him a light massage. Jack groaned moving his hand to his face, but ended up slapping himself again. That was when he felt the bandage that went over his forehead and covered his right ear.

"Hid my head?" he asked she gave away a hum and nodded.

"I'd recommend you to stay horizontal." Rapunzel said, Jack let his hand fall to his chest before he blinked slowly looking up at her.

"Where is he?" he asked frowning slightly when she didn't get clearer.

"Hiccup?" Rapunzel asked looking down at him, Jack nodded slowly, not to get the world to spin again. Rapunzel looked away towards the door. "He's resting on deck, nursing a badly sprained wrist and a stab wound in his left tight." She then looked back to Jack. "You on the other hand." Jack gave her a confused look. "Got brown hair again."

"What?" Jack blinked up at her completely lost, and he would probably be as lost even without his jumbled up brain.

"You got brown hair again, Hiccup believes that you lost your magic after the stunt you pulled and got brown hair because of it…" Jack blinked up at her looking so very confused.

"What stunt? Last thing I remember he-" Jack stiffened and sat up with a struggle.

"Jack, do I need to get the ropes and bind you down to keep you from moving when you need to rest!?" her voice was unamused but he ignored her failed attempts to keep him down he moved his legs so that he got his feet under him almost falling over. "Jack." She said in warning. "Don't make knock you out with the frying pan."

"You plan to hit me in the head and jumble my brain more?" Jack asked giving her a raised eyebrow at least the thought he turned his head, but he didn't even move it "Help me up." he wafted with his arm for her to take it.

"What will you do if I decline?" he stopped moving his arm.

"Uhh… get up myself." Jack said and began to push himself up with his arms and legs, but he only got halfway before his balance reached its limit and he would have toppled over if Rapunzel hasn't caught his arm and pulled him to his feet.

"You can barely move how do you plan to stay on your feet?" She said in a stick voice "What will you accomplish by walking around?"

"I need to see him, okay." _last time I saw him he was getting choked to death_ , Jack didn't say that, but it was close to slipping. Rapunzel sighed with a groan.

"Will you stop moving around if I take you to him?" Jack nodded, a bit too fast and he nearly fell back to the floor but Rapunzel held him on his feet with a grunt "Fine." She said and began to walk towards the door, Jack walked with her the best he could, his legs still wobbly under him.  
He saw Maximus sit next to Phoebus at another bed on the floor.

"What happened to him?" Jack asked stopping, Rapunzel stopped as well.

"Hans happened, he's resting right now, but he will be fine." Maximus said and smiled weakly. "What about you?" Maximus looked Jack up and down. "You don't look like you should be up and moving."

"I don't know." He said giving away a laugh. "Everything's fuzzy." Maximus frowned slightly looking at Rapunzel who rolled her eyes.

"Call for me if his condition changes, will you Max." Rapunzel said as she led Jack over to the door and opened it. Jack winched, at the bright light that blinded him, forcing his eyes shut and placed his hand over them slapping himself once again.  
Stupid body not moving as he wanted.

"Jack! What in Thor's name are you doing? You should be resting!?" Astrid shouted there she sat on deck, Jack blinked his eyes open slowly at her shout, the bright sunlight still pierced him in the eyes, like many tiny needles, and he was frowning to the brightness of everything. Hiccup sat leaning against the wall of the galley, face towards the sun and eyes closed. His peg leg taken away and a bandage visible thru the gash in his pants where the knife stabbed him.

"He was whining about wanting to see Hiccup." Rapunzel said to the female captain as she helped Jack over towards Hiccup. "I had to help him because he couldn't walk on his own."

"I can walk just fine!" Jack said glaring at her, she gave him a deadpanned look and let go of him, Jack yelped and he failed with his arms before he crashed into Hiccup' lap, making the captain of the Night Fury jolt awake and curse when the stab wound was touched at the sudden change of weight.

"A warning would have been appreciated." He grunted as he looked up at Rapunzel who was looking at him with a serious look.

"Make sure he stays down and rests." She ordered before she walked away, Hiccup moved his hurt leg out of the way and looked down at Jack, who looked up at him with a dizzy expression before he blinked and grinned the most stupid grin Hiccup ever seen on the teen.

"Hiccup." He said in a happy voice. His eyes fell from Hiccup's face to the purplish bruise around Hiccup's neck, he slowly raised his hand to touch it.

"He could have killed you…" Jack mumbled out his voice getting slurred "…and what was I doing… couldn't even help…" his eyes began to close and his hand began to fall, as Jack began to lose the fight against the sleep, Hiccup caught it before it would have smacked Jack in the face for the third time. "I was soooo… help…ful…" Jack mumbled out words slurring together as he fell asleep in the warmth of the sun.

"I would _have died_ if it wasn't for you." Hiccup murmured as he kissed the back of Jack's knuckles that still had a light bruise, from punching Hans in the face, before he let it down to the deck and stroked some of Jack's brown hair away from his face, looking at the bandage with knitted eyebrows remembering how ugly the wound had looked when Rapunzel and Lunar had cleaned the blood away, before they dressed it, but he still remembered the stark contrast of red against Jack's pale skin.  
He sat and brushed his fingers thru Jack's hair eyeing him with a content smile on his lips, jack sighed and seemed satisfied as well.

It didn't take long before the Deadly Nadder caught up to the Bewilderbeast. Aster gave them a wave and relief was clear on his face.

"So where to now Hiccup?" Aster asked as he leaned against the railing,

"Somewhere where we can fix the Deadly Nadder and rest." Hiccup said and Aster nodded.

"Tortuga?" Aster asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk as he turned the helm to glide alongside the other ship.

"Tortuga." Hiccup replied and nodded.

They reached Tortuga after a week and the pirate island gave them a good place to rest, heal, get food and water, and rebuild the damage done to the Deadly Nadder.  
Stormfly was singing happily in the now fixed mainmast on her ship, while Nicholas, Sanderson with help from the rest of the crew that could help fixed the rest: painting the ship in her colours again and fixed the spikes and figure head back to her previous glory.

Hiro and Tip was fighting with sticks along with a group of children that lived in Tortuga.

"Why don't all of you ask Mulan for lessons?" Mu-Shu said holding a bucket of blue paint in his hand and a brush in his other. They looked at him in confusion. "She can teach you some sword and fighting techniques, and if you ask me she's better than Nicholas." Mu-Shu said. Earning a laugh from the older man.

"No, she not better." He laughed.

"She's a far better teacher than you!" Mu-Shu replied sticking out his tongue to the other man.

Hiro and Tip shared a looked with the other children before they all went to find Mulan dragging Heather along the way and dragged them with them.

It wasn't hard to find Mulan, she stood with a paddle in both hands and hit at a sheaf bound to a pole.

"Mulan!" they called out, she stopped and turned to face them.

"Oh, what going on here?" she asked when she saw the group of children in all ages.

"Mu-Shu told us you could teach us how to fight." Tip said.

"Yeah." One of the children said and punched into the air making Mulan laugh.

"Oh, but I'm still learning myself." she said placing her hand at her chest.

"Please." Two children said, on with red hair in a big mane around his head and a girl with blond hair said and a pleading looks from the other children.

"Okay, okay. I guess I can show you a few moves." She laughed out and everyone cheered

"Yes! Mulan is gonna teach us how to kick Marine butt!" Tip exclaimed, Mulan laughed

"Now, calm down… that's lesson number two." She said holding up one finger. "The most important lesion is being gentle, at the same time we're being tough." She hit her clenched fist into her palm.

"How can you be tough and gentle?" a young black hared girl asked in confusion, at her feet a blue coloured dog sat with dark eyes.

"I know it does sound a little funny, huh, but the world is full of opposites and so are you, to be a good warrior you need to bring it all into balance." They gave her a confused look. "Hmm…" Mulan scratched her neck as she thought about it "Let's see if this helps." She said and sank down to her knees, placing her hand on the ground. "Earth, Sky" she pointed to the sky. "Day, Night. Sound and Silence" she placed her finger over her lips, before she placed her hands over a child's eyes. "Dark and Light." She opened her hands letting the child see again earning a laugh as she got up to her feet again "One alone is not enough; you need both together." She gestured to two twins that took a hold of each other's hands "Winter Summer, Moon and Sun." she kicked up the paddle and spun it around before she made a hit in the air "Lesson number one." Tip and Hiro took up their stick again and made sure everyone of the other children had one as well before looking at her with their full attention. "Like a rock." She punched into the air "you must be hard." She punched some more. "Like an oak, you must stand firm" she took the paddle in both hands and took one step forward shoving the paddle forward. "Cut quick; like my blade." She moved the paddle thru the air over their heads. "Think fast" she jumped and kicked into the air "Unafraid." Hiro and Tip looked at each other before they along with the children mimicked the moves Mulan done earlier.

"Okay Mulan, I'm ready!" Tip said holding her stick out with a smile on her lips.

"Uh-huh, but you're still out of balance." Mulan poked Tip on the shoulder making her fall to her side "You're only _half_ way there." Mulan put down the paddle to the ground as she sat down "Like a cloud you are soft." She got up and moved gently unlike before "like bamboo you bend in the wind." She moved her arms and body like the wind was playing with her. "Creeping slow. You're at peace because you know: it's okay to be afraid." she looked at them and smiled, once again they mimicked the movements and in the end mixed the movements into many others.

Four days was what it took for the Deadly Nadder to return to her former glory.  
Nicholas clasped his hands together and smirked up at the ship once again with the pirate flag flapping in the mainmast.

"There you go lassie." He said and smiled when he heard a content hum come from the ship as the wind made the ropes and folded sails move.

"You did a great job everyone." Astrid came walking smiling at them, her arm was no longer in the sling, her shoulder had healed enough but she was till told to take it easy. "Rapunzel made dinner back on the Bewilderbeast." She gestured back to the ship. "Time to eat."

They gathered all in the galley of the Bewilderbeast where Rapunzel served them soup with meat, potatoes and carrots.

Phoebus had woken up some days earlier but was up for the first time and was now eating slowly from the bowl, he had gotten to borrow one of Maximus's white tunics, like the old times…  
Maximus sat next to him and filled in what had happened since they left Corona, but he had also asked what Phoebus had planned to do now, and the man had sighed heavily and just shook his head and shrugged with his good shoulder.  
Jack ate slowly as well, because he still had trouble keeping his balance, he still had to concentrate far more on the simple things, and if he moved his head to fast the world spun around and he in more cases than not fell against someone or the wall when he tried to move, so Rapunzel had ordered him to stay in bed till he could stand and look down at his own feet without toppling over. Eret sat close by him as support on one side while Hiccup sat on the other, and Jack had most of his body weight on his arm that Eret let rest on the table.

"So where now?" Nicholas asked looking at Astrid.

"I'm not sure…" Astrid said thinking. "Probably back to Berk to take the rest we need after everything Hans made us live thru." She said, Nicholas nodded before he looked towards Phoebus.

"What about you, son?" Phoebus looked up at him and sighed shaking his head.

"I have nowhere to go, if I go back to Corona they will take my head the moment they see me." He sighed looking towards Astrid "If you have space on your ship I'd gladly become a part of your crew, if you want me that is." Astrid grinned.

"If this keeps up I will have a fleet of ex-marines on my side." She snickered "Welcome to the crew of the Deadly Nadder, Phoebus."

The door of the galley was thrown open and Eugene strolled inside with a newspaper under his arm.

"You'll never guess what I just saw!" he said loudly grabbing the newspapers edges letting it fall so that the front page became visible to them. Toothless lifted his head from the plate with meat with a confused sound eyeing the newspaper tilting his head. A big picture covered the front page it was of the fort with a big hole where it had collapsed together. "Hiccup, you and Jack made the front side of the newspaper." He shook the paper to mark his point and a rustle was heard as loose papers fell to the floor; landing with the image up. He stared down at the bounties. "Oh." was all he said as he gave Nicholas the newspaper and bent down to pick up the bounties in his hands, as Nicholas began to read

"The Fort of Corona; Headquarters of the Marine have fallen." Lead the headline "Under unknown causes has the marine fort's front fallen into the ocean, many say that they saw a great storm appear from thin air, demolishing the building into rubble and vanish just as fast, many speculations has been made, but most rumours say the cause are witchcraft made by a witch from the pirate crew: The Night Fury, that according to rumours have wrecked the wicked Nightmare Dragon and made it's spread of terror come to an end. The thirteenth prince of the southern isles have been accused to have dragged the curse from the crew over himself and the city when he was found alive among the rubble unhurt but babbling about ice and snow. He is now put under charge for the destruction of the fort and will be held responsible for the escape of the pirate crew but also to have let the Night Fury's attack occur. Prince Hans will be after order from the King of the southern isles to be put in house arrest in the castle of the southern isles…" Nicholas blinked before he laughed "You two really know how to make the news" he said looking up at Hiccup and Jack.

"House arrest, that means we've seen the last of him." Hiccup said and downed the water he had in his mug. Jack just blinked.

"Oh… guys I think you better look at this!" Eugene said as he had looked thru the papers. He then took up one of them and held it out to face them "Look! They finally got my nose right!" he sobbed out. Rapunzel walked over him taking the papers from him expect the one of him.

"Its bounties, new bounties!" she said flipping thru them, before she began to hand them out to the crew members. Hiro and Tip stared down at their own bounty with delight, Tadashi eyed him with sceptic eyes. Eret whistled when he saw his and Jack just gaped at his own, Aster and Nicholas argued about the money that was on them. Hiccup eyed his bounty and started to laugh.

"Well, I can call that an achievement, that means everyone on this crew are now a real pirate." He said and smirked.

"They got my nose right." Eugene sobbed holding his bounty close.

"Ye big cry-baby." Aster laughed.

"Shut up! They got your nose right from the start!" Eugene barked back.

"Aw… ma favourite was the pig-nosed one." Merida whined. "Now I won't get to see tha' one anymore."

"Don't. You **dare** mention that one!" Eugene said pointing at her with a glare.

"What about the potato one?" Rapunzel asked with a smirk.

"I trusted you!" Eugene cried out staring at her like she had kicked a puppy, Rapunzel punted at him with a teasing look in her eyes before she walked over to him kissing him on the cheek, making him blink up at her in surprise.

"You forgot about the fat and long nose they gave him the first time." Maximus said with a snort and got a death glare in return, breaking the moment. Rapunzel began to gather the bounties again before she started to fasten them on the wall in the galley.

"There we go." She said and smirked. "Jack, why do you look so fed up?" she asked looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" he replied back, sitting up more not to put all his weight on Eret's arm. "I don't know, I had the sun in my eye or something." She smiled at him. Tadashi looked at Nicholas

"Nicholas, you told me you would tell us the history between you all and Hans." Tadashi reminded them, Nicholas sighed and put his fingers at the brim of his nose.

"Yes, that I said, son." Nicholas said as he let his hands fall to the table and began to tell everyone what happened all those years ago, Hiccup, Aster and Lunar cut in now and then when it was needed.

As they talked the night grew later and outside Tortuga grew to life.  
The brothels and taverns getting filled with people, and songs from the taverns rang out over the city along with the laughter from many.

Later when most wounds had healed and the ocean began to call to loudly the two crew split their ways after their joined time together. The Deadly Nadder disappeared towards the north, in direction of Berk, while the Bewilderbeast began to move towards the west.

Jack looked down at the chest that had belonged to his father, Tadashi had told him that he already had the key, but Jack couldn't understand, he didn't have a kay on him, and there was no key hole on the damned chest.  
He sat in the front of the ship, alone; Tip and Hiro was training their fighting techniques showing them to Tadashi who stood and oiled the railing. Hiccup stood at the helm whistling on their song, and Toothless, Pig and Pascal dozed in the sunlight, Aster was in his workshop mixing and making new and egg bombs. Rapunzel was painting on a piece of drift wood she had found back on Tortuga, as Merida and Eret took care of the weapons, sharpening the swords and Merida fixed her arrows.

Jack turned the chest over in his hands, hearing a rattle form inside, so it wasn't empty at least, but a keyhole he couldn't find. He put it down in front of him and sulked, he still had the bandage around his head just to make sure the wound got to heal, but his concussion had dimmed and disappeared during their time in Tortuga.

"Great job dad. Giving me a chest without a key." He muttered under his breath as his fingers trailing over the frost like pattern on the wood, as he glared out over the ocean, he blinked when his fingers suddenly found a height difference on the chest, he looked down at the chest to see how his fingers had ended up in the shallow ditch of a carved snowflake like symbol on the chest where the frost created a circle around it.  
The snowflake looked a lot like… he moved his hand to his chest where the handmade silver snowflake rested in the silver chain, he took of the chain to look down at it moving it between his fingers before he moved it to the chest.  
Maybe…  
He placed the snowflake on the symbol and began to press it into the pattern and he felt how something gave away, and then he heard a click and the sound of cogwheels and gears before the chest clicked again the lid clicked open. Jack swallowed hard before he grabbed the sides and lifted the lid, the chest was full almost overflowing with envelopes, with a blue seal with a symbol of a snowflake impressed on them. Jack gathered the letters in his hands, looking down at the chest, a package the size of his palm lied in the bottom left corner, Jack picked it up, the same seal on it holding the ropes and paper together. He put them all back inside the chest slamming the lid close before he got to his feet and ran into the cabin, he couldn't risk the letters falling overboard, he heard Hiccup call out his name in worry just as he slammed the door shut.

Hiccup looked down at the door to the cabin with a mix of worry and surprise.

"Jack?" he said again and were about to let go of the helm when Tadashi spoke.

"He seemed to have found the key to his father's chest…" Tadashi said slowly. "I guess he's looking thru the contents of it now, I'd give him some time alone for the time being." Hiccup nodded, taking a hold of the helm again and sighed deeply.

Jack sat down at Hiccup's desk putting the chest down in front of him glaring at it, before he lifted his hands to open the lid again. He was trembling, and his heart was beating so fast.  
Why was he so worried about the content of those envelopes?  
It wasn't as if things could get any worse between him and his dead father…  
Jack took a deep breath as he took up one of the envelopes studying it closer now when there was no risk of it blowing overboard, there was a date written on it with curvy numbers, and he looked thru them all till he had put them in order with the oldest first and newest last.  
Jack broke the seal and unfolded the letter, he was trembling so hard that he had to force his hands down against the desk to be able to read.


	52. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51**

Jack read thru the envelopes: learning what hardship his father had gone thru while searching for the fountain. He got to know every member of the crew thru the papers.  
Jack felt his chest clench whenever his father asked how his younger sibling mother was feeling, and wishing he could return to them as fast as possible.  
Jack also got to read about how after a fight with another crew of pirates, the captain made him captain in his stead. Jack also got to read about how the deal with Drago and the Nightmare Dragon had been made; when he read about it, he nearly tore the letters in half from anger.  
He read about how they found out the ritual for the fountain's powers and how they found everything for it expect for the tear. And thus never got its magical powers, but they found their way into the city of Atlantis instead, and there he realized how greedy the rest of Overland's crew had been: he skimmed thru the rest of that letter before he crumbled it in his hands throwing it hard to the floor.  
After several deep breath in order to calm down he continued to read again.  
The pile of unbroken envelopes shrank as the read ones started to cover the wooden floor around Hiccup's desk. Years had passed from the first letters to the ones he read now, and he knew just from reading it that his father had grown tired; old, sad and very, very guilty over his actions.

Jack picked up the last letter, the only thing left was the package still lying in the chest, but he didn't really care about it at the moment, he slowly broke the seal and opened the envelope slowly once again trembling and began to read not sure what he would find written in ink.

" _Hey Jack._

 _How's mother and junior? I hope you all are all alright and healthy.  
I'm sorry I haven't gotten home jet, this will be the last letter I write to you; I have sadly started to run out of ink and paper and have no money to get more...  
I can't return back as fast as I wished to due to our ship being destroyed in a storm claiming many lives, this adventure was not as exciting as I hoped it would be.  
I made some bad choices, son, and promises to some bad people, I promised them something I can't give them anymore. I promised them that I would give them the map to the fountain when I found it, but now, knowing its true powers; I can't._

 _If it gets in their hands everything will end in a horrible and bloody disaster, they already control the sea with their terror. I can't live with the knowledge that I made their years never come to an end.  
I'm sorry I never got to see you grow up, Jack, you were such a lovely child, now I fear I won't recognize you when I see you again. Have you found anyone while I was gone? Have you found a wife and started a family on your own already? I don't know anything about your life, and you don't know anything about my hardship, how I have survived countless of battles and storm, what I've seen and lived thru.  
All because I never sent the letters I wrote to you._

 _I hope you can forgive this old weathered and guilty man when we meet each other again, if not, then please accept my sincere apology, I was a fool, and I realize that now this will be my last message to you, and I hope we will meet again, and then maybe you will get to read these-._ "  
Jack blinked as his vision grew blurry, he first now noticed the tears that rolled from his eyes down his cheeks and fell to the paper, smudging the ink. Jack gasped and he stroke them away with an angry sound as he started to read again.  
" _I want you to know that no matter what: I always loved you.  
When I feared for my life I thought of you and wished I could live so I could get to see you once more, and nothing will change that, I love you son, even if I didn't ack like it when I left without a word.  
You'll never know how many times I've woken up in the middle of the night hearing you cry out my name, as you did all those years ago back on the docks in Burges or how many times I thought I heard your laugh in the wind.  
I'm sorry, that I wasn't a bigger part of your life.  
I'm sorry I never got to see my second child and see you become an older brother.  
I'm sorry for not being the father you deserved.  
Jack, I'm sorry.  
I'm sorry for everything._"

The letter ended like that, Jack let it fall to the desk as he tried to swallowed down the lump in his throat, trying to breath normally, but his breathing were weak and shaky. He took up the package with a trembling hand as he dried is eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. Opening the package slowly to find a box of birch bark, he lifted the lid slowly to find a snowflake: made form silver with a blue pearl in the middle, fastened to a silver chain. A small note was written on the bottom of the box. " _Happy Birthday, son._ "  
Jack choked on his breath as he shoved the snowflake forward and slapped the envelope from the desk before he fell, arms crossed and forehead to rest against them, over the desk, a muffled cry leaving him.

"Y-you **bastard**!" Jack sobbed out in an angry and desperate voice, kicking some of the letters.

Hiccup opened the door to the cabin slowly, not sure what state he'd find Jack in. the sky was turning orange and purple behind him as the sun sank down towards the horizon.

"Jack..?" he asked when he saw him, countless of letters covered the floor around him and the desk, the chest stood on the desk open, but empty. Hiccup closed the door and moved inside "…are you alright?" he moved over to the desk pushing the letters away with his foot to not step on them, before he looked at Jack. "Hey?" he placed his hand on Jack's back feeling how he trembled.  
Jack turned his head to look up at him, tears streamed down his cheeks and his eyes were red rimmed and puffed, he sniffled before he hid his face in his arms again. Hiccup stroked his hand on Jack's back when he saw the snowflake in the box on the desk. "Want to talk about it?" he asked and Jack shook his head, Hiccup sighed, not really knowing what to do to make his boyfriend and fiancé's mood brighten. "Is he still the bad person you thought him to be?" a whine left Jack and he moved his arms over his head in a way to shut Hiccup out. "Alright, alright, I won't ask or talk about it." Hiccup said as he took the snowflake in his hand and studied it closer. "It's beautiful…" he said slowly the flake was well made and the blue pearl was almost completely round.

He slowly made Jack sit up and face him, he stroked the tears away, kissing Jack on the forehead before he hung the necklace around Jack's neck: it fell down to where the old one had rested.  
Jack sniffled and looked at him with a distressed look and the tears began to fall again.  
Hiccup smiled weakly at him as he stroked the tears away again before he kissed Jack on the lips. "Come now." He said when he broke the kiss and pulled Jack up from the chair by his arms to stand on his own before he hugged him tightly before moving towards the bed.  
Jack flopped down on it when he reached it too tired to care about the belt or anything else, but when Hiccup made movements to leave the side of the bed, Jack pulled him down with him with an unhappy sound; Hiccup gave away a yelp when he landed with a thud next to Jack on the bed.

"Stay…" Jack mumbled out burrowing his head into Hiccup's arm as he curled around him like a cat. Hiccup sighed in defeat, but after a while he sat up from the bed, earning a whine from Jack who made a tired grab movement for him.

"I'm not gonna leave." Hiccup said reassured ruffling Jack's hair, as he took of his coat, before he got up and gathered the letters and put them into the chest and brought it over to the bed, before he sat down and took of his belt and prosthetic of along with his boot and lied them down on the floor before he turned to face Jack who was giving him a tired and confused look.

"What?" Jack asked with sleep making his words slur a bit at the end, Hiccup smiled as he bent over and kissed Jack on the nose, earning an unamused noise and a scrunched nose form Jack, before he lied down on his back next to him and pulled him close.

"Sleep, and everything will be easier in the morning." He murmured out into Jack's hair as Jack snuggled a bit closer before he melted into Hiccup's embrace with a content sigh and it didn't take long before he was sound asleep. Hiccup started to cradle his fingers thru Jack's brown locks humming their song earning a smile on Jack's lips. Before he rolled to his back and picked up one of the letters from the chest. Was he to read them or not? They were personal… he sighed and put the letter back down in the chest and closed the lid before opening the trapdoor on the side of the bed and shoved it in to the hollow space under the bed before he closed the barely visible door again.  
He instead reached for his sketch block and pen and started to sketch when he moved a bit to sit up more against the wall and freed his both arms from Jack's hold, Jack instead took to hug around his waist and seemed satisfied with that. Hiccup pulled up the covers and started to sketch on everything and nothing, but soon looked down at Jack, the snowflake glittered in the light that fell in from the rear window and Hiccup smiled as his hand began to draw the strong lines and soft edges that made up Jack's face.

Hiccup looked up from the sketch when he heard the door open and saw how Rapunzel looked inside with a slight worry, but she sighed in relief when she saw him, apparently expecting to find something more intimidate, but as she walked inside her eyes fell to Jack.

"Is he okay?" she asked in a hushed voice to not wake him, Hiccup made a so, so motion with his free hand that he held the pen with.

"Overland really knows how to make his son upset." Hiccup sighed and Rapunzel nodded slowly, before she caught sight of the new snowflake that hung around Jack's neck, she had noticed the old one at first but then stopped thinking about it, this one made her do a double take because of its beauty.

"Oh that one's new?" she asked sitting down on the bed at Hiccup's knee pointing at the snowflake.

"If I'm right, from what the note in the box said, it's a late birthday present from his father." Hiccup said, Rapunzel nodded slowly.

"Nicholas has started with dinner, he told me to tell you two now, so he'd know if you two were doing a more "intimidate activity" which you two isn't." She said and smirked, blushing slightly, or was it the light? Hiccup felt his face grow hot and he cleared his throat giving her a light shove with his knee earning a soft chuckle in return.

"Not in daylight my deer Rapunzel." Hiccup said and wiggled his eyebrows at her; she smacked him on the knee with a laugh, making him snort but he smiled at her, before he turned the sketch block around and showed it to her. "What do you think?" he asked, Rapunzel looked down at the sketch, and took the block with gentle hands she studied the drawing in silence before she handed the sketch block back and smiled at him

"It's really good." She smiled and stood up brushing her fingers thru Jack's brown locks earning a hum in return. "Will you show it to him?"

"It's not like I can keep it hidden, he flips thru that block once a week to just look at whatever I've drawn." Hiccup said and chuckled.

After sailing the ocean for weeks the crew made a stop at Macintosh: an island that connected with Dunbroch, but only when there was a low tide. To get provision and water but also, to get new clothes to the newest members of the crew.

Rapunzel and Merida walked with steady steps thru the city, knowing exactly where to go, followed by Eret, Jack, Hiro, Tip and Tadashi who wasn't as certain.  
They stopped at several stores that sold clothes:  
Tip spun around making her green tunica swirl around her, she also got a striped shirt and new pants and shoes. Hiro got a new red shirt with wide arms and a pair of light brown pants that wasn't too short, along with new shoes as well. Tadashi thanked them when he got a white shirt similar to Hiro's but longer at the waist and three buttons at the neck, new pants and shoes for him as well.  
Eret tried to decline that he didn't need anything new, but Rapunzel didn't take no for an answer and in the end he got a red shirt similar to the white one he currently wore, expect that this one didn't have any arms. Jack gaped at them in horror when Merida tried to get him to wear a pair of shoes, he argued widely and loudly that he didn't need any and in the end she gave up with a loud groan.

"Merida..." Rapunzel suddenly said when they moved back towards the ship, nudging her in the side. Merida looked at her in confusion as they stopped.

"What?" she asked, Rapunzel pointed to the side, everyone looked in the direction to see how a baker tried to get three red-haired boys to leave his cakes and desserts alone.

Merida gapped; she knew that unruly red hair whenever she saw it.

"Hamish, Hubert, Harris!?" she called out, the boys stopped to turn to her, one of them dropping the cookies he just gathered in his arms. They stared at her with big eyes and the baker looked between them with caution not sure what they would pull next.

The triplets then threw the things they had in their hands and ran towards Merida with happy cries wearing long green, red and grey tartan robes that flapped around their legs, large belts and brown boots, the same clothes they had back when they lost track of each other's all those years ago.  
Merida hastily gave Rapunzel the things she had carried to be able to hug around her lost and newfound brothers. "I thought I lost ye for good." She said as she held around them. "You've grown so much." She said when she let go of them, they grinned at her, they looked fine, but she could see that they were skinny. One of the sneezed and snot hung down from his nose, but he quickly sucked it up again. Making Hiro gag and give away a disgusted shiver.

"Who are they, Merida?" Tip asked as she walked up to their snipers side.

"They're ma wee brothers." Merida said and grinned back at her. "Three wee devils." She smirked.

"Well, we're not gonna leave them now when we've found them again." Rapunzel said and smiled "Let's go back to the ship, I do believe they will be able to handle themselves on the Bewilderbeast."

It was a sunny day and the triplets had settled well; Toothless had whined at Hiccup the first week when the triplets had found it extremely fun to play with him. Hiccup had just given him an apologetic look.

"Don't look at me like that, bud, I may be captain, but they're babies, they don't listen to anyone, not even Merida." They pulled pranks on everyone, but not too horrible, only just a shower of seawater form a bucket when you opened the door to the galley, or messing with your beard- Eugene still hadn't forgiven them. But mostly they chased each other and played hide and seek or ate Nicholas cakes and sweets that the older man made for them especially. One thing that never got old for the trio, was to steal Hiccup's peg leg and there was a chase over the ship until they were caught or someone managed to snatch the peg leg back.

Rapunzel and Tip was mixing dried herbs and making salves and potions for the medicine out in the sunlight even if the doctor's office would give them peace.

"Um… Rapunzel." Jack walked up to her, looking a bit nervous, she looked up at him giving him a confused look.

"What is it Jack?"

"Do you think you could… you know… uh…" he scratched the back of his neck.

"Could I?" she asked, Jack took a deep breath.

"Do you think you could remove the… you know." He made a slight movement to his back, he still didn't like to talk about it, it seemed.

"You mean the slave mark?" Rapunzel asked, Jack winched at the word but nodded.

"Can you remove it?" he asked giving her a look she couldn't quite place.

"I can do that. But it's a big procedure, and it's on such a moving aria…" she sighed "Jack, are you sure about it?" he nodded.

"I want it off." He said in a steady voice. "And… get the Night Fury's jolly tattooed there instead." Jack looked a slightly worried as Rapunzel knitted her eyebrows and just stared at him with a frown.

"You're not our slave Jack!" she said in a serious voice.

"I know! But I still- I want it."

"Have you thought it thru?!" she barked back "You're not our slave! I won't do it! I can remove the slave mark, yes, but I will not give you a tattoo!"

"Rapunzel, please." Jack said trying to calm her down, but she was already angry.

"No, have you told Hiccup about it?!" she looked to the captain who gave her a surprised look.

"Oh no, don't bring me into this." He said holding up his hands letting go of the helm.

"Hiccup!" she barked at him.

"It's his body!" Hiccup called back. "But remove the slave mark first if he wants it gone so badly, and let him think while the wound heals, you can't put on the tattoo anyway until the skin healed." Hiccup said gesturing with his whole upper body. Rapunzel sighed in a grunt.

"Fine, anyone else who wants theirs gone?!" she looked at Eret and Aster with a glare. Aster held up his hands in surrender.

"If I wanted it gone, I would 'ave made Lunar do et." He said.

"It's a part of me… and also it's not as bad as the one they forced on Jack." Eret said placing his hand on the scar.


	53. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Rapunzel sighed as she lifted down a pottered jar from the shelf in the doctor's office.

"What's that?" Jack asked looking at the jar with a raised eyebrow, Rapunzel turned to look at him.

"Anaesthetic salve." She said as a matter of fact. "I am in no mood to have you squirming in pain, removing that scar will hurt, not only because I will be cutting away skin, but because of its place, your shoulder blade, barely have any leverage for me to work with, and you will be unable to move properly for I don't know how long. By putting this on, you won't feel a thing, until it wears of, by then I can have you drugged on the painkillers if you can't stand it." Jack gaped at her before he shook himself into alertness and nodded.

"Right." He said. Rapunzel ordered him to take of his shirt and lay down on the bed on his stomach so that she could begin to work.

Jack yelped and a violent shiver wracked thru him when the cold salve landed on his skin.

"Sorry." Rapunzel apologized, before she started to massage the salve into his skin around and on the slave mark on his back. They were in silence for a while before Rapunzel wiped her hands on a piece of fabric and got up from the side of the bed, she returned later with a thin but sharp knife in one hand and a clean towel in the other. "I'm gonna start now, tell me if it hurts." Jack nodded.

"Have you started jet?" he asked after a while, not feeling Rapunzel cut away the mark.

"Yeah, I'm halfway done." She said and continued. She cut and took the fabric to wipe the blood away. When she was done she put the fabric against the wound before she got up again, getting the stuff she needed to make the wound heal in peace. She took out some bandages and started to dress the wound before she nodded and let Jack take on his shirt again. "When the anaesthetic disappears it might feel strange, if it's become unbearable, come to me and I can give you some painkillers."

"Thank you Punz." Jack said and smiled at her.

"Yeah. Yeah, but I'm **not** making that Tattoo unless you give me an extremely good reason to why." She said and pointed at him.

"Fine, I've got it."

Days went by and Jack fought against to scratch the itching that the wound made when new skin grew to replace the removed one.

"Are you sure you still want the tattoo when the wound has healed?" Hiccup asked one late evening when they had stumbled to bed after a storm, drenched to the bone, cold and tired. Jack grumbled as he moved from the position he'd fallen to and looked up at Hiccup who was sitting up leaning on his elbow. "Why do you want it in the first place..? You're not a slave anymore."

"That's the very reason as to why I want it." Jack said looking up at him.

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked

"I mean, you guys saved my life, and you took down the Nightmare Dragon in order to save me..." Jack grew silent for a moment eyes lost in his head, before he blinked and looked at Hiccup with steady eyes. "The reason to why I want the night fury on my back is because I never wanted to hold my back straight, but now, I want it, I want to wear it on my back, carry her with us, it's my fault she's in the dark ocean now... it's the least I can do for the ship that saved me." Hiccup stared back at him, surprised, before he sighs, a smile growing on his lips.

"She'd like that very much." He mumbled out before he smirked and before Jack had time to react began to tickle him. Jack snorted trying to fight back.

"Hiccup! Stop-!" he laughed barely able to talk, trying to get away from Hiccup's tickling hands "Stahp! Hahaha please! I give, I _give_!" he laughed, tears in his eyes, Hiccup stopped and Jack gasped for air still laughing slumping against the bed, before he looked up at Hiccup who had crawled up to sit over him. he reached up and took a hold of the collar of Hiccup's shirt before he jerked him forward, making Hiccup loose his balance and had to bring his hands down at the sides of Jack's head to not crush him. "If I wasn't so tired, I'd get you back for that." Jack said smirking up at him before he cupped Hiccup's face and kissed him lightly. "But I'm tired and rather sleep."

Hiccup lied down next to him and yawned. It didn't take long before they fell asleep.

Rapunzel removed the bandage and gave the wound a look, the skin had healed fine, and unless you knew the scar was there, it was barely visible.

"Decided about the tattoo?" Aster asked form the door, there he stood leaning against the frame with arms crossed over his chest. Rapunzel sighed heavy and sent him an unhappy look.

"Yeah..." Jack said "I still want it."

"Why?" Rapunzel grumbled getting up.

"To hold my back straight and to remember the Night Fury. That ship saved my life, and it's my fault she's on the ocean floor. I want to do something for her." Rapunzel looked back at him before she sighed.

"Fine..." Rapunzel said "Aster will do it, he knows how." She said gesturing to the Pooka who nodded and smiled.

Jack was sitting as Aster sketched up the Night Fury's symbol on his shoulder with a blue pencil to get the lines, he then showed Jack with a mirror, asking if it was okay, Jack had nodded and Aster had started to gather the stuff he needed. Jack winched slightly when the Pooka began to work with the needle, but once he got used to the feeling he didn't say anything as Aster worked.

"How ya doing, kid?" Aster asked when he had made the head of the dragon done.

"I'm fine." Jack replied. Aster hummed in reply and continued. It took a while but Aster wiped the ink away when he was done eyeing the art with a smile.

"There we go." He said and brought the mirror up again. "Happy?" he asked as Jack looked at the tattoo, Jack smirked and nodded.

"Thanks Aster."

"No problem, Jack." Aster said and put on some protection to make sure the tattoo could heal properly, otherwise Rapunzel would kill him. "There ye ago, take it easy an' no direct sunlight on it, got tha'?" Jack nodded.

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and months turned to years. The Night Fury stayed a ship followed by rumours and stories among peoples, everyone knew about the ship, and if you didn't you soon got schooled about it by sailors and bartenders.

The marriage took place on Fairy Cove, and Toothiana was overly excited about it and the many new teeth of the crewmembers. But the real party wasn't until they got to Berk again and it was then that Rapunzel and Eugene finally got together after dancing around each other for weeks, and everyone praised the gods for it. On their way to Berk they met Ariel again; she had smiled at them when she learned about the marriage and gave them her blessing and promised them, that if they needed help from below just call and she'd come to them.

Skullcrusher was taken over after Stoic, taking over more and more of the chief's work and everyone was glad for it, they met the Deadly Nadder on Berk again and everyone laughed and danced. And another magazine got blown up, the twins getting help from the triplets all to Hiccup's horror, and Merida's head.

They left Berk after staying there for far longer than before and instead headed towards Burges, a request from Jack, who wanted to see his home after so many years.

The city had grown a lot since the fire, and Jack led Hiccup along until they stopped at the empty overgrown ruin that was left of Jack's home. Jack looked at it with a sorrowful look on his face. Hiccup sighed there he stood further back and walked up to Jack placing his arm around his shoulders.

"Can it be..? Jack?" they turned in union at the old lady's voice to look at a short grown woman with white hair gathered in two ponytails down her chest, she was tanned and had a worried look on her face, she had two red markings draw across the bridge of her nose. Jack gaped at her, and Hiccup looked between the two

"Jack, do you know her?"

"Tanana..." Jack managed to say, before he rushed up to the elderly woman who smiled at him "How can- how did you survive the fire?" he asked she put down her wanderings staff and took his hands in hers.

"I was on one of my long walks when it happened; I got back to the town brunt to the ground." She gave him a sad smile. "A few survived that night, I feared you were one of those who didn't make it, but something told me I was wrong, now I see the proof." She smiled bigger, before she looked to Hiccup. "Who's your friend?" she asked.

"Oh, Tanana, this is Hiccup, my husband and captain." Hiccup walked closer "Hiccup, this is Tanana; she's my father's aunt." Hiccup smiled at her and held out his hand in greeting she took it with both of hers smiling up at him.

"A Viking? Doesn't look like much but oh so strong and so wise." She said looking at Hiccup. "How did you manage?" she looked to Jack who laughed.

"He saved my life..." he said. "He saved me from Drago's grasp."

"So I've heard." She said and smiled.

Hiccup gave away a shout from the galley, and everyone on deck blinked to the door before the door was thrown open and the triplets ran out holding hiccup's peg leg in their hands, followed after them Toothless chased trying to get his humans leg back. Hiccup stumbled up thru the door later gripping the doorframe hard to stay on his foot. The triplets laughed as they ran left and forth over deck, Toothless followed the best he could, but he couldn't catch up to them. Hiccup managed to hobble up to Jack who stood close by.

"How many times is it now?" Jack asked.

"Far too many!" Hiccup grunted out as he looked to the triplets still chased by Toothless.

"Gonna do anything about it?"

"Like I can do anything? They don't listen to anyone." They looked up when one of the triplets called out and Jack blinked when the peg leg suddenly was thrown to him. Jack caught it with a surprised sound, looking after the triplets that shattered over deck in different directions. "Toothless! STOP!" he suddenly heard Hiccup cry out.  
Too late.  
The panther crashed into them making them fall over each other. Jack grunted when his breath was knocked out of him, he heard Hiccup grumble something as he rose from the deck, legs caught under Toothless who lied on his back over both of them. Toothless whined and rolled of shaking his head before he looked at Jack and Hiccup with an apologetic expression on his face. Jack sat up and gave Hiccup the peg leg, before he got to his feet, brushing dust away from his clothes.

"You okay?" he asked when Hiccup had fastened the peg leg again and held out his hand to him. Hiccup took it and was pulled to his foot.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

The sky grew darker as the sun turned orange, clouds turned pink and soon the sunset coloured everything gold.

"Where are we heading?" Jack called out looking at Hiccup with a smile.

"Towards the horizon." He called back and grinned.

As the Bewilderbeast sailed towards the sunset. Towards new adventures.

Trade Johann sailed into port greeted by a school of children.

"Trade Johann, trader Johann!" they called out "Got any stories for us?" one of them asked. He laughed.

"Well, there is one tale I haven't told you." He said. "Do you know the legend of the Fountain of youth?" he asked.

"Ach, that's just legends." One child said.

"True, but legends ring with truth and the tale I'm about to tell you will prove you wrong." He said and smiled at the children.

"Will we like this tale?" they asked in one.

"Oh you will love it; it got everything you can ask for." He said and held up a small piece of red fabric with a drawn Night Fury on. "The tale is: The Tale of the Night Fury."

 **The End**

 **Thank you all for reading, i love you all!**


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